Jan. 24

The Dispatch January 24, 2020

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Serving Greater Delmarva Since 1984

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Winter In OC: A “spray bow” over waves is pictured at the Inlet on Monday, a windy and chilly day in Ocean City.

Water Testing Next Step For Berlin Park As MDE Continues To Investigate Spill

See Page 4 • Photo by Charlene Sharpe

Hundreds Turn Out For Wind Turbine Hearing With State Regulatory Agency See Page 22 • File Photo

Worcester Approves Commercial Rezoning For Property Located West Of Berlin

See Page 10 • Photo by Charlene Sharpe

Major Rehabilitation Project For Route 50 Bridge Estimated To Last About Five Weeks See Page 9 • Photo by Chris Parypa

Photo by Chris Parypa

INSIDE PAGES

Cops & Courts

Editorial

PAGE 26

PAGE 44

PAGE 24

Faces In Places

People In Society

PAGE 30

Things I Like

PAGE 33

Things To Do

PAGE 34

Community

PAGE 35

Classifieds PAGE 38

PAGE 42

Business Sports

PAGE 46

Crossword PAGE 47

Fatherhood PAGE 48

Music

PAGE 52

Vanishing OC PAGE 54

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The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

SERVING DELMARVA FOR NEARLY 60 YEARS

January 24, 2020

January 24, 2020

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Berlin Park Water Testing Planned

January 24, 2020

BY CHARLENE SHARPE

STAFF WRITER

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BERLIN – Groundwater testing is expected to take place at Heron Park as the Maryland Department of the Environment continues its investigation into last year’s chemical spill.

More than six months after a chemical spill was identified at Heron Park, town officials said investigations into the incident by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) were still underway. MDE this month asked the town to have groundwater testing done at the property.

“We are told the water testing and results will be completed within just a few weeks,” Mayor Gee Williams said.

“The town will certainly announce the results, whatever they are, as soon as they are available.”

The town spent close to $300,000 on cleanup after a chemical spill was identified in the midst of demolition work at Heron Park in June. Officials confirmed early on that MDE and EPA were investigating the spill.

According to Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood, the town received communication from MDE a little more than a week ago stating that the agency had reviewed the report submitted by Chesapeake Environmental Services, the company the town hired to handle the cleanup.

“It said… ‘the report indicates that the concentrated caustic liquid that was contained in the subsurface concrete pit and the contaminated soil were removed and the groundwater that entered had an acceptable PH,’” said Fleetwood, quoting the letter. “‘The emergency response actions to remediate the detected caustic material are deemed to be acceptable…’”

Fleetwood said he considered that good news. He added that MDE did, however, want the town to have some groundwater testing done at the park.

He said the town had contracted EA Engineering to handle the work.

“That work should begin in the next seven to 10 business days,” he said.

Williams is hopeful that the testing will signal the end of MDE’s investigation.

“Once the results are compiled MDE will inform the town if any further remediation is necessary, or if we are all clear to go on MDE signing off on this investigation,” Williams said.

As far as the EPA review, Fleetwood said that was ongoing. He said a contract division of the agency would visit in February but would primarily be reviewing whether the town had followed the proper protocol in the wake of the spill.

Though the park remains closed to the public, Fleetwood said that in recent weeks town staff had managed to clean up much of the debris left over from the interrupted demolition work.

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

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The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

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Berlin Teen Pleads Guilty To Second-Degree Murder

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

SNOW HILL – A Berlin teen charged in May for his role in the death of another teen during an altercation pleaded guilty on Tuesday to second-degree murder and now awaits his fate pending a pre-sentence investigation.

Around 6:15 p.m. last May 20, Berlin Police responded to a wooded area behind an apartment complex near Route 113 for a reported altercation that had occurred. Berlin Police responded to the area after a suspect identified as Ver-

shawn Hudson-Crawford, 16, of Berlin, walked to the department’s headquarters with his mother and grandmother to report he had been involved in a fight.

During the course of the conversation, investigators learned the location of the victim, later identified as Dehaven Nichols, 17, of Berlin, in VERSHAWN the wooded area. Berlin HUDSONPolice responded and CRAWFORD found Nichols unresponsive in the wooded area. He was pronounced de-

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ceased at the scene by Berlin EMS. The preliminary investigation determined the two boys had been involved in a fight. Maryland State Police (MSP) Homicide Unit investigators responded and took over the investigation. Based on the evidence, Hudson-Crawford was charged with first- and second-degree murder along with other assault charges.

During a hearing on Tuesday in Worcester County Circuit Court in Snow Hill, Hudson-Crawford pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and a pre-sentence investigation was ordered.

Hudson-Crawford has been held without bond since the incident in May and he remains in custody following the plea hearing on Tuesday. The second-degree murder conviction carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.

In July, when the first-degree murder count was still on the table, the Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a notice to seek a sentence of life without the possibility of parole in the case. In June, the defense filed a motion to transfer the case to juvenile court, a motion that was ultimately denied.

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Long Wait Likely For Rural Broadband Service

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

BY CHARLENE SHARPE

STAFF WRITER

“Those red areas are currently unserved with broadband that meets the federal definition,” said Joanne Hovis, president of CTC Technology & Energy.

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SNOW HILL – While there are some opportunities ahead, a consultant advised officials this week that bringing high speed internet to rural portions of Worcester County could be a decade-long effort.

Joanne Hovis, president of CTC Technology & Energy, presented the results of a six-month broadband feasibility study to the Worcester County Commissioners on Tuesday.

“We recommend thinking of this as a long-term effort to chip away at the problem to make hopefully incremental but substantial progress over time and to think about this as a multi-year, possibly a decade-long effort, to partner with state, federal and private entities in order to comprehensively solve the

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problem in a long-term futureproof way,” Hovis said.

She said her company spent the past six months looking at Worcester County’s existing service and infrastructure to identify its needs.

“We did not analyze the possibility of the county becoming an internet service provider but with the understanding that the county, the state and most likely the federal government will be part of the solution in terms of making it economically viable for the private sector to fill those infrastructure gaps,” she said.

Hovis added that the lack of infrastructure was a problem all rural communities faced. She said installing infrastructure was only economically viable in places with population density, where costs were lower and revenues were higher.

“The private sector simply doesn’t build where there is not economic viability,” she said.

Here in Worcester County, CTC determined there were roughly 6,400 homes lacking broadband infrastructure. While they might have access to internet, it’s not at the speed the federal government considers broadband.

CTC evaluated fiber and wireless as potential solutions in Worcester County.

While fiber costs more, Hovis called it the “holy grail of communications infrastructure” and said it would last for decades. While wireless appears to be cheaper, she said it was best as an interim solution.

“At the end of seven to 10 years it probably would need wholesale replacement because it simply can’t keep pace with speeds and the needs of the market in the same way that a wired or a fiberoptic solution can,” she said.

As far as funding improvements of either variety, Hovis said there were a variety of state and federal grants and loans that would be available moving forward. She said Choptank Electric Cooperative could prove an ideal partner, as the company wants to bring broadband service to its customers.

“Choptank has made it clear it’s very interested in solving this problem in all nine of the counties on the Eastern Shore of Maryland,” she said. “We’ve had very positive engagement with them and feel there’s a real opportunity they could be a strong partner.”

A challenge in Worcester, however, is the fact that Bloosurf received federal funds to serve the county.

“There is an existing wireless provider here in the county whose presence and current status as the recipient of federal funds may preclude award of some of the federal funds to another entity,” Hovis said.

While Bloosurf received federal funding to bring high speed internet to the area, Hovis said there were concerns with the service it offered.

“If indeed this company is delivering at the level it says it is then the broadband challenges here in the county are not as bad as we think,” she said, SEE NEXT PAGE

Major Route 50 Bridge Rehabilitation Project Underway

January 24, 2020

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

OCEAN CITY – Motorists accessing Ocean City via the Route 50 Bridge can expect headaches for the next month seven days a week as the State Highway Administration (SHA) embarks on the next phase of rehabilitation of the Harry Kelley Bridge.

SHA crews on Thursday morning began shifting traffic lanes on the bridge in order to create a safe work zone for the next phase of repairs to the span. Crews are closing the eastbound lanes around the drawbridge and shifting traffic to the westbound side where one lane will run in each direction through early March most likely.

… County Reviews Feasibility Study

“but we are concerned that that is not actually happening.”

Commissioner Chip Bertino said the county had a responsibility to make high speed internet service available to all of its residents.

“I’m a little concerned that Bloosurf has possibly cut us off or is holding us hostage,” he said. “What opportunities are available to us to break that hold?”

Hovis said the company’s service should be tested.

“There have been persistent concerns here in Worcester County about their performance,” she said.

She stressed that her company recommended engagement with Choptank as it aims to install fiber.

“If I had to choose between fixed wireless and fiber it’s not even a choice from an economic development standpoint,” she said. “That fiber is an asset that will last for decades.

It’d be as good as anything that exists in San Francisco, Singapore, Seattle, Auckland, Beijing. You’d be competitive with anywhere in the world whereas fixed wireless could be a fine interim solution… It’s the difference between the Santa Fe Trail and an interstate highway. They’re just not the same thing.”

Bertino asked how the county should move forward, particularly in regard to its Bloosurf concerns.

“Years have slipped by already,” he said. “How do we maintain the forward momentum we’d like to see?”

Hovis said the county needed data on Bloosurf’s performance. She said that could be collected by wireless engineers.

Bertino made a motion to have staff bring the county a proposal for such testing as well as a plan to move forward at the commissioners’ next meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Lane Closures Expected Until March

SHA officials said on Thursday the project and the associated lane closures will not be restricted to certain days or even certain times of the day, but rather the work will go on around the clock, including weekends, until it is completed. The closures are necessary to provide workers with the time and space needed to safely perform electrical, mechanical and steel repairs in the machine room, install new underwater electrical cables and renovate the bridge tender’s house.

In addition to the vehicle traffic closures on the bridge’s deck, draw-

bridge openings will not be permitted for boaters during the life of the project. Occasional channel closures will be necessary as well.

According to a release, SHA has been working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and local officials in establishing the mid-winter work schedule to minimize impacts to vehicle and marine traffic and the town of Ocean City. SHA is asking the public to slow down and stay alert when traveling through the work zone.

To help ensure public safety, the eastbound sidewalk on the bridge will be closed during the life of the

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project. Pedestrians and cyclists are advised to use the westbound sidewalk on the span. The project is beginning just as SHA is putting the finishing touches on a major $1.8 million walking and biking trail along Route 50 and across the bridge into Ocean City.

SHA will restore two-lane, twoway traffic on the bridge when the project is completed in early March.

However, bridge repairs will continue into 2021 with minimal public impacts during the peak summer season. For the last two years, crews have been performing concrete spall repairs on the underneath side of the bridge and steel retrofits in the drawbridge machine rooms. Those repairs are designed to extend the service life of the bridge by 30 years.

Rezoning To Bring Commercial Uses To ‘Berlin Gateway’

Page 10

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

BY CHARLENE SHARPE

STAFF WRITER

SNOW HILL – County officials approved a rezoning this week that will allow for commercial development of 18 acres of farmland on Route 50.

On Tuesday, the Worcester County Commissioners approved a request to rezone 18 acres at the intersection of Route 50 and Route 346 from agricultural to commercial. The rezoning is expected to allow Ernest Gerardi’s M&G Land LLC to move forward with

plans for a convenience store and other commercial uses on the site.

“The population growth of Berlin shows that there is significant increase in need for commercial area for the use of Berlin,” said Joe Moore, Gerardi’s attorney.

County staff told the commissioners that the property had been zoned agricultural since zoning was established in the 1960s. Phyllis Wimbrow, deputy director of development review and permitting, said Gerardi’s request to rezone the property C-2 commercial

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had received a favorable recommendation from the Worcester County Planning Commission.

“The planning commission concluded there is a mistake in the zoning of the petitioned area,” she said. “The planning commission found that the petitioned area is within a designated growth area and is a gateway location for Berlin, an area with significantly increased population over the last 30 years.”

She said the commission also noted that commercial service locations were limited west of Berlin and that the property wasn’t ideal for agricultural or residential use.

“The petitioned area’s location between US 50 and Maryland Route 346 and the adjacent power substation render the site unattractive for residential use,” she said. “Its small size and irregular shape make farming with today’s large equipment difficult.”

Moore reiterated those points during his presentation and highlighted the location of the property, which is currently home to a “Welcome to Berlin” sign.

“When one comes into Worcester County on Route 50 and you’re coming eastbound on Route 50, this intersection is the first intersection with any access to any municipality in the coun-

January 24, 2020

ty…,” he said. “It’s literally the Berlin gateway.”

Moore acknowledged that he’d spent more than a year working to annex the property into Berlin. That plan was abandoned, however, when the town and Gerardi weren’t able to work out an annexation agreement.

“The cost of the extension of the public utilities from the town to our location was what caused us to seek rezoning here today,” he said.

Since it won’t be connected to town sewer, the project will be served by a septic system. When asked what sort of development the site might accommodate, Moore said details would come later, during site plan review with the planning commission.

“The uses that were envisioned would be things such as a convenience store, perhaps some storage space, that type of thing,” he said.

He encouraged the commissioners to focus on Berlin’s growth as they considered the rezoning request.

“Berlin since the 2000 Census has grown 48% in its population,” he said.

“As you all know, downtown Berlin — in its historic district and its commercial downtown area — is as we say full. Main Street cannot accommodate any additional uses.”

The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the rezoning.

Boardwalk Tram Ad Content Concerns Reviewed

January 24, 2020

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

OCEAN CITY – Resort officials this week agreed to send out a request for proposal (RFP) for municipal bus and Boardwalk tram advertising, but there appears to be a reluctance to consider the latter.

Last week, the Transportation Committee forwarded a favorable recommendation to the Mayor and Council to send out an RFP outlining the terms of the proposed contract for sign advertising on the municipal buses and Boardwalk trams. The committee recommended a three-year base term for advertisers, with the option of two oneyear extensions.

The council appeared poised to act on the committee’s recommendation before debating the merits of the transit advertising plan, particularly the advertising on the Boardwalk trams. Councilman Matt James said he wasn’t entirely in favor of tram advertising, but was willing to send out the RFP to gauge the

Dredging Work Set For Public Landing

BY CHARLENE SHARPE

STAFF WRITER

SNOW HILL – A dredging project is expected to improve access at Public Landing.

The Worcester County Commissioners this month unanimously agreed to award a bid for the dredging of Public Landing to Murtech Inc. Sand will be dredged from the waterway and used to replenish the beach.

“We think we can make the space more usable,” said Tom Perlozzo, the county’s director of recreation and parks, tourism and economic development.

Perlozzo said his department opened bids for the proposed Public Landing dredging, which will consist of moving 4,000 cubic yards of sand, on Dec. 30. He recommended accepting the lone bid received — for $192,000 — from Murtech. He added the project engineer and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had both reviewed the bid.

Perlozzo said some alternate work initially included in bid documents would not be part of the project, which is being paid for with Land and Water Conservation Funds.

“What we plan on doing is meeting with Murtech, maybe changing the scope for the project to save a little money,” Perlozzo said. “Originally we were going to push the beach forward into the existing bay. Now there’s some discussion with DNR about moving it backward because we received a nontidal wetland permit and removed the phragmites off the beach.”

Dredging is expected to take place through April.

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

response.

“I’m not sure I support advertising on the trams, but I am interested to see what it could bring in, so I’ll support the motion to see what potential interest there is,” he said.

The Boardwalk tram advertising includes rectangular signs marketing a wide variety of businesses, special events and public services. The latter often includes messages on where to find help for addictions or sexually transmitted diseases and the like. Council Secretary Mary Knight questioned if the town could dictate the content.

“Can we indicate that we really don’t want as many health or public service messages out there?” she said.

Transit Administrator Brian Connor said the town could control the message with the advertising.

“That would be at your discretion,” he said. “You’re able to craft what type of advertising that you’d like on your ve-

hicles. In some regards, that’s already in the contract. Knight continued her objection to some of the tram advertising, suggesting it didn’t always fit with the Boardwalk’s family-friendly image.

“I’m not really in favor of tram advertising because I think it clutters up the Boardwalk,” she said. “I don’t like what most of the signs say, especially when you see a bunch of Boy Scouts and there’s a sign about venereal disease right above their heads as it goes down the Boardwalk.”

Councilman Dennis Dare, who voted against the motion at the committee level, said he would remain consistent on the issue.

“I will not be voting for the motion, in the interest of consistency,” he said.

“I’m okay with the buses. The way it’s presented with the trams, it gets a little honky-tonk. On top of that, some of the messages on the signs we put out there are not consistent with the family

Page 11

image we want to portray.”

Councilman Mark Paddack said there was no harm in sending out the RFP as a fact-finding mission of sorts and suggested more oversight on content.

“This RFP would continue what we’ve done in the past,” he said. “I agree with some of the others that some of the messages aren’t family-friendly and don’t portray the image we want.

The OCDC (Ocean City Development Corporation) is concerned about some of what is portrayed on the signs. I would hope in the future that the OCDC assist in recruiting additional downtown businesses to take up those spaces so there will not be space for some of those non-family-friendly messages that are being portrayed out there.”

The council voted 5-1 with Dare opposed and Councilman John Gehrig absent to send out the RFP despite a reluctance to continue the tram advertising.

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Changes Planned For Summer Fireworks, Concerts

Page 12

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

OCEAN CITY – The summer fireworks schedule and potential bigname concerts were part of a larger package of enhanced special events approved this week at City Hall.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Bob Rothermel of TEAM Productions presented a line-up of special event enhancements for the summer of 2020 including fireworks at the beach downtown and at Northside Park. He also pitched the idea of adding as many as four significant concerts on the beach and at the north-end recreation complex.

Each year, the town’s tourism budget includes a $300,000 line item for TEAM Productions’ enhanced value-added

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

special events including the weekly fireworks shows. Last month, the Tourism Commission expressed a desire to expand on the resort’s stranglehold on summer weekend travel plans for many in the region by enhancing the special events and other attractions.

As a result, the weekly downtown fireworks shows, which, for years, have been held on Mondays and Tuesdays, will be moved to Thursday this summer. What has not changed is the start time for the fireworks displays, which will continue to go off at 10:30 p.m. each Thursday, weather permitting, from June 18 through Sept. 27.

“There will be 13 shows on Thursdays throughout the summer along with Labor Day Monday,” said Rothermel. “The plan is to coincide with the whole concept of ‘Make Thursday the

New Friday,’ which has been discussed recently. We’re going to enhance the shows this year by adding more product. You’re going to get more bang for your buck.”

Uptown, there will be 13 fireworks displays each Sunday at the conclusion of the town’s popular Sundaes in the Park event at Northside Park. The shows will be held each Sunday around 9 p.m. starting June 14 through Sept. 6.

During the Tourism Commission meeting last month, Rothermel told members he was working on an enhanced summer concert series this season including potentially three significant ticketed beach concerts attracting major acts. A free concert has been confirmed at Northside Park on Aug. 22 in conjunction with the town’s

January 24, 2020

ArtX event, which has been done in the recent past.

However, Rothermel said he is continuing to work out the details for three ticketed concerts on the beach at North Division Street this summer. The targeted week for the first concert is July 5-10, while the target date for the second beach concert is Aug. 20. A third ticketed beach concert is tentatively slated with a preferred date of Sept. 3.

When Rothermel first pitched the beach concert series at the committee level last month, he told members he was in negotiations with some significant major acts, although he was mum on the details. He told the Mayor and Council this week those negotiations are ongoing, but he was not prepared to divulge any names at this point. He related a story from decades ago when he was negotiating with a major act and the deal fell through when the announcement was made prematurely.

“I’d prefer not to discuss the bands at this point,” he said. “Back in the 1990s, I was pressed for a name and divulged it and it was in the papers that Friday. Their agent called me and said ‘what are you doing?’ and the deal fell through. That was before social media, so you can imagine what would happen if I leaked a potential name. All I can tell you is it’s a major name, and I’m in conversations with their agent and I think we’re in good shape.”

Rothermel said he was targeting Thursdays for the concerts in keeping with the theme, but said negotiations were ongoing.

“There is going to have to be some wiggle room,” he said. “I’m pushing for Thursdays, but if we want to attract top talent, we’re going to have to be flexible.”

Rothermel said the plan is to bring back the popular beach chair concept from the Beach Boys concert on the beach in the 1990s. Attendees who paid a premium ticket price were given a beach chair for reserved seating with the artist’s name and the date of the concert on it.

In addition, Rothermel on Tuesday presented plans for an altered OCToberfest event schedule next October.

In recent years, the OCToberfest event, including the haunted beach maze, the Boardwalk Pet Parade and the Great Pumpkin Race, have been spread over two weekends in late October. However, because actual Halloween falls on a weekend this year, Rothermel said the plan is to consolidate all of the events on the same weekend on Oct. 24-25.

“When we surveyed people from the pet parade and the pumpkin race, we learned to try to do all of it on Halloween weekend would be problematic,” he said. “Visitors want to be in their home towns for Halloween for trick-or-treating and other events with their towns and the schools.”

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

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Page 14

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

10 Auctions by A&M Auctions

View Website for Complete Ads, Terms, Directions, Online Bidding, Photographs & Additional Information www.AMauctions.com

14th Annual Firearm & Men’s Night Out 3 Day Auction!

Selling for several local Eastern Shore/Mid Atlantic Estates & Consignors including a nice selection of Early Lever Action Rifles from the Estate of Dr. Morton Kramer of Baltimore, MD & a nice selection of firearms from the Estate of Steve Smith!

There will be over 1,850 Lots in this 3 Day Auction!

Auction Held at the A&M Auction Facility-8000 Esham Road, Parsonsburg, MD Wednesday Feb. 5th, 2020 & Thursday Feb. 6th, 2020 at 5:02 PM (Online Only Timed Auction on Proxibid for Wed. & Thur.)

Friday Feb. 7th, 2020 at 5:02 PM (Live Onsite W/Live Webcast bidding via Proxibid)

Online Bidding will be available at www.amauctions.com via PROXIBID! We have already consigned 425+ (215 Rifles, 85 Shotguns, 125 Handguns) Antique/Modern Rifles, Shotguns & Handguns. 750+ Lots of Knives, Bayonets & Swords. 100,000+ Plus Rounds of Ammunition, Husqvarna Professional Z554 Zero Turn Mower, John Deere X540 Riding Mower, Jon Boat, Polaris Sportsman 90 ATV, Hunting Accessories, Scopes & more!

Preview: Mon. Feb. 3rd, 2020 5-8 PM, Wed. Feb. 5th, 2020 5-8 PM. Fri. Feb. 7th, 2020 from 2-5 PM. Auctioneers Note: To help celebrate 14 years in a row of having the shore’s largest and most exciting firearm auction, this year’s event will include a preview night, door prizes, giveaways, 50/50 raffle & more!

This year’s Auction will guarantee a great buying experience for all types of firearm enthusiasts.

Directions: Our Auction Facility is located in Parsonsburg on the Eastern Shore of Maryland Approx. 100 Miles north of Norfolk, VA, 55 Miles South of Dover, DE, 100 Miles East of Washington, DC and 18 Miles West of Ocean City, MD. At the intersection of Rt. 50 and the Rt. 13 Bypass merge onto Rt. 50 East towards Ocean City and follow for 3.9 miles to the intersection of Rt. 50 & Forest Grove Rd. Turn North (left) onto Forest Grove Rd. and follow for 0.5 miles to Old Ocean City Rd. Right onto Old OC Rd. and follow for 1.2 miles to Esham Rd. Left onto Esham Rd. and follow for 1.2 miles to burgundy/tan building on left. Signs Posted.

Order of Auction: Wed. 2/5/2020 – 775+ lots of Knives & Edged Weapons, Long Bows. Thur. 2/6/2020 – Over 88,000 Rds of Ammunition to be sold in several hundred lots, Shooting Supplies, Scopes, 55+ Lesser Firearms. Fri. 2/7/2020 – 400+ Lots of Firearms, Bayonets, Larger Items, 2 Commercial Riding Lawn Mowers, Jon Boat w/Outboard and Trailer, ATV.

Wednesday Feb. 5th, 2020 Starting at 5:02 PM – Online Only Auction!

(Day #1 is Online only! All bids must be placed on Proxibid. Can be reached by going to www.AMAuctions.com) Knives from Manufacturers including: 750+ lots of Knives, Bayonets, Swords, Hatchets & more. Manufacturers including: Randall (3), Chris Reeve (26), A.G.Russell (5), Larry Paige (1), Benchmade (100+), Boker (30), Buck (30), Browning (5), Case (175+), Cold Steel (10), Condor (22), CRKT (35), EESE/Randall Adventures (57), Helle (13), Ka-Bar (35), Kershaw (24), Leatherman (10), Lone Wolf Knives (1), Microtech (1), Queen Cutlery (5), Zac Brown (5), Silver Stag (27), SOG (20), White River (24), Winkler (3), ZT & many others.

Bayonets/Military Knives: Over 100 Military Bayonets and Knives from numerous countries. To include many US Bayonets from WWII through Modern times. Please see website for a catalog listing.

Swords/Spears/Bows: 22 Modern/Reproduction Swords, 7 Short Swords, 2 Spears, 6 Long Bows, 1 Recurve Bow, Lucerne Hammer 2 Battle Axe’s & more!

Hatchets: Gransfors Scandinavian Forest Axe #430, Hults Bruk Jonaker Hatchet, Gränsfors Bruks Small Forest Axe #418, Böker Plus Tomahook, Ontario SPEC Plus SP16 SPAX with FG/UC Sheath, Gransfors Bruk Wildlife Hatchet Model 415, Alaska Hunter's Hatchet, Gransfors Bruks 413 Hand Hatchet and much more!

Thursday Feb. 6th, 2020 Starting at 5:02 PM – Online Only Auction!

(Day #2 is Online only! All bids must be placed on Proxibid. Can be reached by going to www.AMAuctions.com) Auctioneers Note: We currently have over 88,000 Rounds of Ammunition in Various Calibers from .17 HMR up to .45 ACP. Many will be sold in Large Lots.

Firearms: We are selling 55 Rifles, Shotguns and Handguns on Thursday night. View Website for a listing.

Rifle Ammo: Many Calibers from .17 HMR up to .45-70 Govt. To be sold in lots from 20 Rds to Nearly 2,000 Rds (.22 LR). Includes Qty. of Commercial and Military Surplus Ammo. View Website for Catalog.

Pistol Ammo: .17 HMR up to .45 ACP & Long Colt. To be sold in lots from 20 Rds to Nearly 2,000 Rds. View Website for Catalog.

Shotgun Ammo: .410 – 12 GA. Some individual boxes & up through Case Quantities. View Website for Catalog.

Firearm Magazines: We have a Quantity of AR Mags in Metal & Polymer from 10-30 Rds, 30 RD AK Mags, SCAR 17 (20 Rd) Metal Mags, FN FAL 20 Rd Metal Mags, Thompson 1927 Stick 20 & 32 Rd. Mags, Sten 30 Rd. Mags, GSG .22 (25) Rd Mags, Ruger 25 Rd. Mags for 10/22. HK UPS .45 ACP Mags, Kimber .22 Mags, CZ-52 Mags & others. NOTE: Many of the Mags we have are considered High Capacity in MD and Other Jurisdictions. Any Mag that can hold over 10 Rd’s can’t be sold and handed out in MD/To a MD Resident. They can only be shipped out of State to a Jurisdiction where legal.

Hatchets/Machetes: Selection of American Tomahawk, Condor, SOG & Gerber Hatchets, Machetes & more!

Military Gear: We have a large selection of Surplus Military Gear to include: Uniforms, Helmets, Molle Gear, Daypacks, Rucksacks, Gloves, Allen Hook Co.Line Set IED Removal Device, Field Telephone Line Reel, Gas Mask, Clothing, Navy Peacoat, Navy Signal Lamp, Repro. CSA Jacket, Signal Corps Freq. Monitor, Signal Corps RM 29A R/C Unit, Tactair Pilot Static Test Kit, Blankets, Canteens, Mess Kits, Camo Netting, MRE’s, Boonie Hats, US Mine Detector Kit, Inert/Training Hand Grenades, Inert/Training Munitions & Shells,Shovels, Pick Axes, Hatchets, Machetes, Helmets, Reference Books, M6 Periscope, 1945 Model M1A2 Dummy Grenade w/Projection Adapter, US Air Force Sextant in wood box, Link Bubble Xextant in case & much more.

Kayak: 12’ Heritage Stingray model kayak with a Werner paddle.

Accessories: We will be selling a nice selection of Hunting and Shooting accessories including Firearm Parts, Barrels, Stocks, Ammo Cans/Crates,Scopes, Knives, Bayonets, Cannon Balls, Compound Bows & Arrows, Magazines, Reloading Equipment, Bullets, Brass & Propellant, Shooting Accessories, Lubricants, Cleaning Rods & Supplies, Brass Shotgun Shells, Powder Flasks/Horns, Bullet Molds, Shooting Vices & Lead Sled, Holsters, Hard & Soft Gun Cases, BB/Pellet Guns, Holsters, Knife Sharpeners, Tree Stands, Paper Targets, Metal Targets, Skeet Thrower, Life Jackets, 3 Vinyl Uph. Folding Boat Chairs, Barracuda Mount, Nets, Leg Traps, 3 Quail Release Cages, Pr. Snowshoes, Robert Barnes Duck Print, “Winchester Gun Advisory Center” Enameled Round Sign & more!

Friday Feb. 7th, 2020 Starting at 5:02 PM- LIVE/ONLINE Auction!

(Day #3 will be a LIVE/ONSITE Auction at the A&M Auction Facility! LIVE Webcast bidding will be available at Proxibid.com.

Proxibid can be reached by going to www.AMAuctions.com) Firearms from Manufacturers including: American Tactical Imports, Arisaka, Auto Ordnance Corp, Beretta, Browning Arms Co, Carl Walther, Century Arms Intl, Charter Arms, Churchill, Colt’s P.T.F.A. Mfg Co, Colt Defense, CZ, Davis Industries, D.S. Arms Inc., Fabrique Nationale, Glock, Harrington & Richardson, Henry Repeating Arms Co, J. Stevens Arms Co, J.C. Higgins, J.G. Anshutz, Heckler & Koch, Husqvarna, Imez, Lee Enfield, Lithgow, LWRC Intl, Marlin Firearms Co, Mauser, Mitchell’s Mauser, Monsin Nagant, Mossberg, Navy Arms, New Haven Arms-Volcanic, Norinco, O F Mossberg, Random, Remington Arms Co, Rock River Arms, Savage Arms, Sig-Schmidt Rubin, Sears & Roebuck Co., Smith & Wesson, Sprewerke, Springfield Armory, Stevens Arms Co., Steyr, Strum, Ruger & Co, Inc, Uberti, Taurus, Zastava, Weatherby, Webley, Winchester Repeating Arms Co & others. U.S. Military Arms to Include: Eddystone Arsenal, Inland Div. GM, Remington, Remington Rand, Rock Island Arsenal, Smith Corona, Springfield Armory, Winchester & others!

Firearm Highlights include: Volcanic Repeating Arms Company .41 Cal, 1863 2nd Mdl Henry .44 Lever Action, Winchester Mdl 1866 Lever Action, LWRC REPR .308, LWRC 5.56mm, RRA 5.56mm, Armalite AR-50, 2 Armalite AR-10’s, FN Scar 17S, UZI Mdl B, A nice selection of WW1/2 Era Military rifles including US 1903’s, 1917’s, M1 Carbines, M1 Garand’s, Mauser bcd 4 Sniper, M1 Garand Sniper & much more! Please View Website for Catalog and Thousands of Photographs of the Items.

Lawn Mowers: 2014 John Deere X540 Riding Lawn Mower. Model was produced from 2006 to 2014. Showing 305 Hours. 54” Cut. Kawasaki FD731V is a 675 cc, 41.20 cu-in V-twin 90° liquid-cooled 4-stroke internal combustion small gasoline motor with a vertical shaft. 26 HP at 3,600 rpm. PIN# 1MOX540ACEM090920. 2018 Husqvarna Professional Z554 Zero Turn Mower. 26 HP Kawasaki FX751V Engine. Showing 45.2 hours. 54” Cut. ATV: Polaris Sportsman’s 90 four wheeler front and rear racks with one helmet. Four wheeler starts and runs.

Preview: Mon. Feb. 3rd, 2020 5-8 PM, Wed. Feb. 5th, 2020 5-8 PM, Fri. Feb. 7th, 2020 from 2-5 PM. Terms Personal Property: Cash or Approved Check Day of Sale. Visa/MC/Amex/Discover. 13% Buyer Premium. 3% Discount for cash or check for local Onsite Bidders for Fridays Portion of the Auction. Bids placed Proxibid will have an 18% Buyer Premium for all 3 Days of the Auction. Maryland Sales tax of 6% will be charged on all items. Everything Sold “As Is” with no warranties of any kind. The mechanical workings of the firearms being sold have not been tested.

Auction conducted inside & outside of 10,000 Sq. Ft. facility. Some seating provided. Food served by Phat Boyz Catering. Valid State issued photo identification required for registration.

(5) Upcoming Onsite Online Only Auctions to Include: March 11th, 2020: On-Line Only Auction – Ocean City, MD! Personal Property located at: 1915 Marlin Drive, Ocean City, MD. Auction Held Online Only w/Bidding ending: Wed. March 11, 2020 Starting at 5PM! Estate Vehicle, Decoys, Primitives, Glass, China, Antique and Modern Furniture, Collectables and more! March 18th, 2020: On-Line Only Auction – Ocean City, MD! Personal Property located at: 10319 Bristol Road, Ocean City, MD. Auction Held Online Only w/Bidding ending: Wed. March 18, 2020 Starting at 5PM! Primitives, Glass, China, Collectables. Antique and Modern Furniture and more! April 1st, 2020: On-Line Only Auction – Laurel, DE! Personal Property located at: 14646 Laurel Road, Laurel, DE 19956. Auction Held Online Only with Bidding ending Wed. April 1, 2020! Tractor, Forklift, Military Jeep, Building Supplies, Tools, Equipment and more! April 29th, 2020: On-Line Only Auction – Salisbury, MD! A&M Auctions is honored to sell for the Living Estate of Don Castle! Personal Property located at: 28249 Riverside Drive, Salisbury, MD. Auction Held Online Only w/Bidding ending: Wed. April 29, 2020 Starting at 5PM! 500 + Clocks, 125+ Victrola’s, Primitives, Collectables & more! Winter/Spring 2020: Online Only Auction – 616 Hunting Park Drive, Salisbury, MD. Auction Held Online Only w/Bidding ending: At a date to be scheduled. To include a selection of Housewares, Glass, China, Collectibles, Furniture & more!

(4) Upcoming Auctions at 8000 Esham Rd, Parsonsburg, MD: March 4th, 2020: On-Line Only Auction Sale - Bidding Ends Wed. March 4, 2020 at 5PM – Items located at A&M Auction Facility, John Deere Riding Mower, Craftsman Riding Mower, Tools, Furniture, Artwork, Primitives and much More! March 24th, 2020: On-Line Only Vehicle Auction Sale. Bidding Ends Tues. March 24, 2020 at 5PM – Selling from the Estate of John Edward Whittington! Items located at A&M Auction Facility, 1988 Rolls Royce Silver Spur Convertible Two Door Coupe, 1989 Rolls Royce Continental Four Door Sedan, 2007 Lincoln Town Car Limousine. March 26th, 2020: On-Line Only Coin Auction – Parsonsburg, MD! Nice selection of 500+ lots of Gold/Silver Coinage & More. 140+ Gold Coins to Include: Five $20 Double Eagle Gold Coins to include: 1893, 1896-S, 1900-S & 1913-D & 1914 St. Gaudens. 5 NGC MS69 $10 Gold Eagles with Mint Errors, Five 2015 Chinese 1 Gram Panda Bars, Twenty 2015 Chinese Panda 50 Yuan NGC Graded Gold 1/10 Oz. Gold Coins, Forty 2015 Canada 1/10 Oz Gold Maple Leaves, 2015 1 Oz. High Relief US Liberty, Nineteen 2015 US $10 Eagle 1/4 Oz. Gold Coins, Five Late 1780-1806 2 Escados Gold Coins, Forty Dos Y Medio 1945 Mexican 2.5 Gold Pesos. 335 Non Graded Morgan Silver $1, 27 PCGS & NGC Graded Morgan Silver $1 in MS62 to MS64+, 84 Peace Silver $1, 20 American Eagle Bullion $1, Qty. Silver Half Dollars, Qty. of Misc Proof/Mint Sets & more! May 8th, 2020: Decoy and Waterfowl Arts Auction. Starting at 5PM – Hundreds of pcs of Sporting Art, Decoys, Collectables and more!

Auctioneer - Dave Allen 410-835-0384 or 302-545-1903 www.AMauctions.com

View Website for Additional Information, Terms, Directions, Online Bidding & Pictures!

Wicomico Tweaking Marijuana Legislation

January 24, 2020

BY BETHANY HOOPER

STAFF WRITER

SALISBURY – Officials in Wicomico County are considering changes to proposed legislation on public marijuana consumption.

Earlier this month, officials with the Wicomico County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office came before the Wicomico County Council with proposed legislation that would prohibit the consumption of marijuana in public areas and vehicles.

“Just because marijuana now has an exception and you can possess marijuana legally by way of a medical marijuana card, it doesn’t mean you should be allowed to consume marijuana in public, as the statute says, on public street fares, sidewalks, in a shopping center or, more importantly, in your vehicle,” Deputy State’s Attorney Bill McDermott told the council.

The proposed legislation mirrors a recently adopted ordinance in Fruitland. Not only does the legislation prohibit marijuana consumption in vehicles and public areas but makes it a misdemeanor charge punishable by a fine of up to $500 and/or imprisonment not to exceed 90 days.

From that initial meeting, members of the county council identified concerns about certain language in the proposed legislation. On Tuesday, McDermott said officials were proposing new verbiage.

“The last time we met there were some concerns that the definition of consumption would prohibit the application of certain topical medications that certain patients needed to alleviate their medical conditions …” he said. “We are proposing to change the word consume to smoke.”

McDermott said he and State’s Attorney Jamie Dykes continue to work with Council Attorney Bob Taylor, members of the community and those in the medical marijuana industry to address concerns.

“One of the more interesting meetings we had was with Mr. Darby who is the CEO of Peninsula Alternative Health, one of the marijuana dispensaries located here in Salisbury …,” he said. “In cooperation, we were able to address his concern and the larger medical marijuana community’s concern with the definition of consume.”

McDermott told the council the state’s attorney’s office was requesting an opinion from the attorney general on the proposed legislation.

Officials said the goal is to introduce the legislation at a future county council meeting.

“As we work through these issues, we’ve enjoyed this process and we will continue to answer any concerns you may have or complete any tasks moving forward,” he said.

City Extends Inlet No Immediate Plan For 3rd Street Traffic Light Conditional Use

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

OCEAN CITY – In what was essentially a mere formality, resort planners this week approved a conditional use extension for a parasail boat and personal watercraft operation near the Inlet.

The existing operation, which includes one parasail boat and up to 12 personal watercraft, has been run by the same family at the same location for 24 years. The family is selling the business, Inlet Seadoos, to a young captain who has worked for them in recent years and is seeking to continue the operation just as it has been run for over two decades.

However, because of the ownership change, the Ocean City Planning Commission was required to review and approve the conditional use request for water-related recreational activities in the I-1 Inlet zoning district.

The commission held a public hearing on Wednesday and, satisfied the requisite safety measures would continue to be met, approved the conditional use for the new owner.

Zoning Administrator Kay Gordy outlined the various staff conditions on the request including safety measures, adequate parking and public facilities and other variables. She said the location is one of the best in the resort for personal watercraft rentals because of the relatively sheltered cove.

“That cove makes this one of the better locations for this,” she said. “It allows customers to practice and get accustomed to the watercraft a little before getting into open water and the Inlet.”

The new owner, Tyler Anthony, told the commission he has worked for the family and intends to maintain business as usual at the operation.

“I’ve worked in the industry for six years including five as a captain,” he said. “I’m going to run a safe, smooth operation that allows visitors to enjoy water-related activities in a controlled environment. The Andrews family has been doing this in the same location for over 20 years and this will be a continuation of that.”

Planning Commissioner Chris Shanahan told Anthony, “This is an established business and you seem to know what you’re doing. This exercise is just for us to get reassurances everything will be done as it has in the past with all of the safety precautions in place.

I’m pretty confident with the testimony I’ve heard. I’m also comfortable with the five-year term.”

Commissioner Lauren Taylor said the Andrews family would not turn over the decades-old business to just anyone.

“We know that this business is their baby,” she said. “They wouldn’t put in someone else’s hands if they weren’t comfortable with it.”

OCEAN CITY – Getting the Boardwalk trams across Philadelphia Avenue from the new public works facility at 3rd Street continues to create challenges, but it doesn’t appear a request new traffic signal is in the works any time soon.

Each day throughout the summer, the trams will have to cross Philadelphia Avenue and ultimately Baltimore Avenue to reach the Boardwalk and return at night to the new transit facility on St. Louis Avenue.

At different times over the last two years or so, Ocean City has asked the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to install a traffic signal at 3rd Street and Philadelphia Avenue, but thus far the idea has had little trac-

tion. Even before the tram operation moved to the new facility from its old home downtown at the Whiteside facility, resort officials suggested a new signal at 3rd Street was warranted due to traffic volume.

Each time the town has requested the new signal, MDOT officials have said traffic studies show it is not warranted. Now, with the Boardwalk tram operation moving to the 3rd Street facility, it is perhaps needed more than ever, but progress has been slow. During a Transportation Committee meeting this month, Public Works Director Hal Adkins said the traffic signal discussion continues between Mayor Rick Meehan and MDOT Secretary Greg Slater, and it remains a possibility, but he is proceeding with a Plan B of sorts for this summer.

“I have to be in summer mode now,”

Page 15

he said. “I don’t think it’s realistic to think a traffic light is suddenly going to appear at 3rd Street before the summer.”

Adkins said his contingency plan includes stopping traffic along Philadelphia Avenue during the morning and night to allow the Boardwalk trams to cross.

“We’re preparing a backup plan to cross Philadelphia Avenue,” he said.

“We’re actually going to have to stop traffic to get the trams across. It might be our people in vests or we could work with the police department on assistance in the morning and at night when we have to get the trams across … I’m not trying to go all over downtown to cross Philadelphia Avenue.

Maybe we find a routine where we cross every morning at 9 a.m., for example, to minimize impacts on traffic and on other departments.”

Winter Break Meal Program Served 150 Students Resort To Try Out

Page 16

BY CHARLENE SHARPE

STAFF WRITER

NEWARK – Education officials reported that the winter break meal program offered in Pocomoke fed more than 150 students in December.

Concerned about students going hungry over the lengthy holiday break, Worcester County Public Schools worked with the Worcester County Commissioners to offer a holiday meal program at Pocomoke Middle School.

Pocomoke area students were able to visit the school for hot meals and take home boxes of food while schools were closed.

“I know this program truly made an impact for the over 150 students served,” Superintendent Lou Taylor said.

For this year’s winter break, schools closed early on Dec. 20 and didn’t reopen until Jan. 6.

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

“One of the chief concerns I have with these long breaks is ensuring our students in need have access to nutritious meals that can sustain them while our schools are closed,” Taylor said. “I want to express my sincere thanks to our county commissioners who shared our concerns and committed $10,000 to fund a pilot program which established a winter break feeding site at Pocomoke Middle School.”

Taylor credited the three Pocomoke area school principals—Michael Browne, Matthew Record and Jenifer Rayne—with ensuring the meal program ran smoothly.

Thanks to the funding from the commissioners, Record said the students were able to benefit from food boxes, hot meals served at the school, and meal bags. School system staff event visited neighborhoods in town to pass out food.

“If you want to feed people you’ll find a way,” Record said.

Browne said the food was available for all Pocomoke area students. Officials used social media, flyers and coordination with local churches and other organizations to share news of the meal opportunities.

Rayne said students also helped with the effort.

“It gives a critical opportunity to our students to give back to the community,” she said. “It was cool to see our students rallying after school to put boxes together.”

She added that more than 2,000 pounds of food was distributed through the school system’s partnership with the Maryland Food Bank.

In all 156 students were served, 180 hot meals were prepared and 256 food boxes were distributed through the program.

January 24, 2020

Solar Bus Shelters

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

OCEAN CITY – Resort transportation officials this month endorsed a pilot program to brighten some of the town’s darker municipal bus shelters with solar-powered lighting systems.

Nearly all of the town’s bus shelters are provided by the Columbia Equipment Company, which has available a compatible solar-powered lighting system at a cost of just under $1,000 per unit. Some of the larger shelters would require two units, while most would require just one. Public Works Director Hal Adkins suggested starting with a couple as part of a pilot program before committing to lighting all shelters.

“I’m not going to suggest we buy 10 of them,” he said. “We might start with one or two to see how it works. We’ve already identified some of our darker shelters.”

Adkins explained there are around 50 bus shelters up and down Coastal Highway, some of which need enhanced lighting more than others. In some cases, the existing street lighting or ambient light from nearby businesses is sufficient, while others are in dark, unlit areas creating safety concerns. Adkins said a pilot program could be used on the latter before committing to a larger program.

“We’ve identified as many as 18 in need of some illumination,” he said. “I just don’t want to get in a position where I’m asking for $20,000 to do all of them. We just want to do a couple right now.”

Councilman and committee member Mark Paddack agreed with the concept, but said the initial program shouldn’t be limited by cost concerns at the expense of improved safety.

“Some of these are higher priority than others,” he said. “We need to pick the most critical ones. If it turns out we need more than just the two or three, we can work that out. From a comfort standpoint, we have to make sure our customers feel safe. That has to be a priority for us.”

Adkins agreed safety and comfort were paramount.

“I’m assuming the goal was lighting some of the shelters that are dark and not safe for the user,” he said. “The goal is to light up the shelters so people don’t feel uncomfortable in them while waiting for the bus.”

In addition, Adkins said his department was exploring ways to brighten some of the darker parking meters in the municipal lots and on the streets.

“We have not forgotten the issue of lighting some of the darker Parkeon parking meters,” he said. “We’re still working on that.”

Summer Trial On Tap For White Horse Park Dispute

January 24, 2020

BY CHARLENE SHARPE

STAFF WRITER

SNOW HILL – A July trial date has been set for the ongoing legal dispute regarding occupancy at White Horse Park.

If the settlement hearing scheduled in June proves unsuccessful, a trial date of July 27 and 28 has been set for the lawsuit filed against Worcester County by a group of permanent White Horse Park (WHP) residents. The residents filed suit against the county as a result of its plan to enforce the park’s occupancy restrictions, which have never been enforced before, in November. Residents were advised they’d face daily fines if they didn’t abide by WHP zoning restrictions, which don’t allow year-round occupancy.

“It is a humanitarian crisis,” attorney Hugh Cropper, who represents the residents, wrote in the latest document submitted to the court.

The controversy regarding yearround residency at White Horse Park dates back to 2018, when the county began a campaign to bring the park into compliance with its zoning restrictions, which state that between Sept.

30 and April 1 units can’t be occupied for more than 30 consecutive days or an aggregate of 60 days. A group of residents who lived in the park, many of them for years, began working with Cropper to find a solution that would

SHOWTIMES JANUARY 24-30

PARASITE - R 12:30 3:30 6:40 9:35

THE TURNING - PG-13 12:10 2:30 4:45 7:20 9:50 BAD BOYS FOR LIFE - R 1:10 4:10 7:00 9:45 DOLITTLE - PG 12:00 2:25 4:50 7:10 9:35 1917 - R 1:00 4:00 6:55 9:40

LITTLE WOMEN - PG 12:40 3:40 6:35 9:30

JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL - PG-13 12:50 3:50 6:45 9:45

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

allow them to stay in their homes.

The issue reached the court system in the fall, after the county sent residents a letter outlining fines they’d be facing if they violated the park’s zoning restrictions. Cropper contends the county gave up its right to fine people, since officials have known about the park’s small population of year-round residents for years.

In the weeks since, White Horse Park’s board has asked and been permitted to intervene in the lawsuit.

James Almand, the board’s attorney, said the board wanted WHP to remain the seasonal recreational campground the developer intended it to be.

“Everyone that owns a lot in the park took title subject to very clear and specific recorded restrictions against yearround occupancy,” Almand said last month. “Therefore, each owner knew or should have known that White Horse

Park could not be used as a person’s primary and principal residence.”

Now that the board’s request to become a part of the lawsuit has been granted, Cropper filed an amended complaint Jan. 22. Just as the initial filing asked the court to stop the county from enforcement action or attempting to evict residents, the Jan. 22 complaint asks the court to stop the White Horse Park Community Association from doing the same.

“It is undisputed that that White Horse Park Community Association Inc. never enforced the occupancy restrictions of the declaration against the permanent or fulltime residents of White Horse Park for nearly 33 years, until 2018,” the complaint reads. “By contrast, White Horse Park was advertised to the general public, by realtors and others, as a permanent or fulltime community.”

Page 17

It goes on to state that the community welcomed fulltime residents for security reasons, to keep an eye on the park’s units.

“In approximately 2018, for some arbitrary and capricious reason, the community association decided to enforce the previously ignored provisions of the declaration,” the complaint reads.

“Plaintiffs and other elderly and disabled permanent and fulltime residents of White Horse Park, many of whom are veterans, and this is their only home, were literally forced into a panic.”

The complaint goes on to attack WHP’s declaration of restrictions, which Cropper points out is antiquated, as it refers to campsites and camping.

“Obviously no one is camping at White Horse Park,” the complaint reads.

“Not even the seasonal residents are camping at White Horse Park.”

Page 18

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Forum On Vaping Planned During Annual Benefit

January 24, 2020

BY BETHANY HOOPER

STAFF WRITER

BERLIN – Members of the public are encouraged to attend a community forum on vaping next month.

On Tuesday, Feb. 4, Stephen Decatur High School will host a community forum on vaping during its annual Taco Night fundraiser.

At 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., parents, students and members of the community are invited to join the discussion, which will be held in the school’s auditorium.

Principal Tom Sites explained the forum is one of the first initiatives to come from the school’s Vaping Task Force, which was formed during the fall semester to address a number of vaping incidents on school grounds.

He said task force members include teachers, administrators and students.

“At the beginning of the school year, we were seeing a number of vaping incidents among some of our students …,” he said. “So we decided to form a task force and start looking at ways to address this issue.”

Sites noted that smoking and vaping on school grounds is prohibited, and students who violate the countywide policy are referred to Saturday school and smoking cessation classes.

But he said that hasn’t stopped some pupils from using e-cigarettes, particularly in school bathrooms.

“This isn’t just a school-wide problem,” he said. “It’s not a problem we are just seeing here at Stephen Decatur. It’s a nationwide issue.”

Nationally, from 2017 to 2018, use of tobacco products grew by nearly 40% among U.S. high school students, with the use of electronic smoking devices increasing by 78%, according to a recent press release from the Maryland Department of Health.

While noting that the number of vaping incidents on school grounds has decreased in the last two months, Sites said the school continues to take proactive measures.

In addition to the upcoming community forum, he said teachers and custodians have been stationed in the hallways and near bathrooms between classes and during lunch. There are also plans to speak with younger students about the dangers of vaping in the coming months.

“We really want to reach the students that are about to enter high school,” he said.

Assistant Principal Leland Green said the goal of the community forum is to inform parents, students and community members about the dangers of vaping. The presentation will include speakers from the Worcester County Health Department, Deputy Kenny Reed, the school’s student resource officer, and more.

SEE NEXT PAGE

health department outlines styrofoam Ban efforts

January 24, 2020

BY BETHANY HOOPER

STAFF WRITER

OCEAN CITY – Representatives with the local health department outlined efforts to enforce an upcoming ban on polystyrene food service products in a resort committee meeting last week.

Earlier this month, the Ocean City Coastal Resources Legislative Committee, or Green Team, invited representatives from the Worcester County Health Department to provide an update on education and enforcement measures related to the polystyrene ban.

In March, both the state Senate and House of Delegates passed a bill to ban expanded polystyrene (EPS) food service products. The legislation would largely affect the food service industry and schools in Maryland, as it prohibits a food service business or school from selling or providing food or beverage in EPS foam food service products.

The legislation, which goes into effect on July 1, bans polystyrene carryout containers, plates, hot and cold beverage cups, trays and egg cartons, to name a few examples.

As part of the ban, the Maryland Department of the Environment was tasked with the educational component of distributed posters, guidelines and other informational materials. Enforcement measures, however, have been delegated to the local health departments.

Ed Potez, director of environmental health for the Worcester County Health Department, told the committee last week that his agency was still in the process of understanding the polystyrene ban and informing local businesses and temporary vendors.

… initiative stems From task Force

“We will be having a session at 5 p.m. and another at 6 p.m.,” he said.

School administrators said the forum will be open for members of the public as they attend the school’s Taco Night fundraiser, which will be held in the cafeteria from 2:30-7 p.m.

“Taco Night is one of the biggest events we have at the school each year,” Sites said. “So we said, ‘Why not use this opportunity to host the event?’”

Sites said he is optimistic the school’s efforts, as well as the new sales age for tobacco products, will reduce e-cigarette use. He noted that students on the Vaping Task Force have already reported a dwindling interest in vaping.

“The students on our task force are telling us it’s becoming less of the cool thing to do now …,” he said. “I think a lot of students are starting to see the dangers and uncertainties of vaping.

They see the damage it can do to their lungs, they see the risks associated with it, and I think it scares them.”

For more information on the community forum, contact Leland Green at 410-632-2880.

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

“This is completely new for us,” he said.

Potez said county agencies have been authorized to impose penalties of up to $250 for violations not corrected within three months of a written notice.

He noted, however, that it was not the health department’s intention to issue fines once the ban goes into effect.

“That’s not our position right now,” he said. “Our goal is not to fine … Our goal is to get them off them market.”

Potez said the agency was currently working to draft a letter informing food vendors and businesses of the ban. He said he expected the legislation to greatly impact some local organizations.

“It’s really going to hit our organizations,” he said. “Our fire departments and churches have stockpiles of Styrofoam [products].”

Businesses and schools must comply with the law when it goes into effect on July 1. But Potez told the committee

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last week businesses and schools can seek a waiver for up to one year in order to use existing polystyrene products.

When asked how the committee could help, Potez encouraged members to share information online or reach out to members of their respective agencies. He said the health department would also share information during restaurant inspections and at the annual Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association Trade Expo in March.

“I think by July 1, a majority of people that this is going to affect will know something about it,” he said.

Potez said he hoped the implementation of the polystyrene ban would be as easy as Maryland’s Clean Indoor Air Act, legislation passed in 2007 that prohibited smoking in indoor areas open to the public.

“It’s almost like the smoking ban,” he said. “Everyone thought we were going to have all these problems and

Page 19

it went as smooth as can be … I’m hoping it goes the same way.”

It should be noted that although foam carryout trays and beverage cups are often referred to as Styrofoam, the fiscal report on the approved state legislation points out that terminology is incorrect. Styrofoam is a trademark of the Dow Chemical Company and is generally used in industrial settings for building materials and pipe insulation, for example. Styrofoam is not used in the food service industry for plates, trays, cups, coolers or packaging materials.

There are some notable exclusions in the legislation. The law would not apply to pre-packaged foods such as soup, for example, that have been filled and sealed prior to the passage of the legislation. In addition, food service businesses and schools in Maryland would be allowed to purchase and distribute products packaged in polystyrene out of state.

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Berlin Mulling Options For Designated Unloading Spot

Page 20

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

BY CHARLENE SHARPE

STAFF WRITER

BERLIN – Town officials are exploring the possibility of designating an unloading zone on Pitts Street.

Economic and Community Development Director Ivy Wells asked the town council this week to consider creating an unloading zone for postal delivery trucks on Pitt Street. Though the spot under consideration was initially on the north side of the street, Wells said she’d instead look at a space on the south side at the suggestion of Councilman Zack Tyndall.

“Obviously it takes a long time to figure something like this out,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll get that in place because I know it’s become a safety issue.”

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Mayor Gee Williams said town staff recommended setting up an unloading zone so that delivery trucks wouldn’t stop in the middle of Main Street to make postal deliveries as they tended to do now.

“The last four or five years the number of times a UPS-type vehicle has to park in the street to load and unload has increased significantly,” he said.

Wells initially proposed using a space on the north side of Pitts Street, just behind where the horse and carriage typically park, as an unloading area. She said she’d spoken with the UPS driver who served Berlin and he’d supported the idea.

“Our UPS driver is 100% for it,” Wells said.

Councilman Dean Burrell said he thought that while the town was review-

Adding a designated unloading spot to Pitt Street near Main Street is under consideration in Berlin.

Photo by Charlene Sharpe

ing that zone it should also consider designating a few parking spaces with a time limit for people running quick er-

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“I do believe that there should be some consideration given to those folks that need those services just for a few minutes and provide some type of parking that is restricted for a number of minutes,” Burrell said.

Wells said 15-minute parking would be a great idea, particularly for the space on Commerce Street near Victorian Charm.

Councilman Zack Tyndall expressed concern with the delivery zone as proposed.

“I see a lot of complications in that intersection,” he said.

Wells said the proposed location was the only one that had been determined to be viable so far.

“If you put three vehicles there, that intersection’s already complicated, and then you throw a box truck in the mix and try to send an emergency vehicle down that route I think you’re asking for a recipe for disaster,” Tyndall said.

Williams said he disagreed and said this was a practical solution to the delivery problem.

“We don’t have a town that’s a box,” he said. “It’s every angle except 90 degrees.”

Tyndall said Commerce Street and Jefferson Street would be better options.

Councilman Elroy Brittingham pointed out that Commerce Street wasn’t suitable because of the bank drive-through there.

When asked for his opinion, Police Chief Arnold Downing said the key thing was getting the trucks off Main Street.

“What we’re realizing now is they’re not letting two boxes off and leaving,” he said. “We’re talking about one driver doing 80% of all of his work inside of the town of Berlin. You know that they’re going to be constantly here. We have to go ahead and make the best use of space that we can.”

Tyndall suggested considering space on the south side of Pitts Street slightly behind Heart of Gold Kids because it was farther from the intersection.

Wells said she didn’t have a preference regarding location as long as the unloading area was off Main Street.

She said she’d work with Downing to verify that the suggested space would work and would present officials with an adjusted proposal at their next meeting.

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Page 21

CONTRACT ACCEPTED

BAY BLOCK ~ OC BISHOPVILLE NEWARK BAY BLOCK ~ OC 13707 NORTH OCEAN ROAD 12321 SOUTHHAMPTON DRIVE 9502 CROPPERS ISLAND ROAD 14013 NORTH OCEAN ROAD $300,000 • MLS #MDWO108266 $669,000 • MLS #MDWO109668 $600,000 • MLS #MDWO105772 $250,000 • MLS #MDWO109954 3 bed, 2 bt, 1,558 sqft, built 1997 Golf Community “Lighthouse Sound” WATER FRONT 1.08 Wooded Acre 3 bed, 2 bt, Den, 1,389 sqft, built 1970 No HOA Fee, RE Tax $302/m 3 bed, 3 bt, 3,228 sqft, built 2009 6 bed, 6 ½ bt, 4,755 sqft, built 1978 No HOA Fee, RE Tax $269/m HOA fee $69/m, RE Tax $429/m Country, No HOA fee, RE Tax $334/m Fenced Ramped Yard, Den/Home, Ofc, Fenced Yard, Screened Porch, Deck, High Corner Lot, Fine Water Views 4-Bay Garage Detached with Full Loft Storage/Workshop, Updated Roofing 2018 New Roofing, Opportunity!

S

LIP

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TS OA

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2B

B

CONTRACT ACCEPTED

BAY FRONT ~ OC BAY FRONT ~ OC OCEAN SIDE ~ OC OCEAN BLOCK ~ OC EMERSON TOWERS #304 on Wicomico Street SILVER MOON #501 at 127th Street VILLAGE WEST I #2 at 501 Bayshore Drive SEASIDE 66 #205 at 66th Street $425,000 • MLS #MDWO109670 $625,000 • MLS #1001953136 $600,000 • MLS #MDWO110846 $180,000 • MLS #MDWO108074 3 bed, 2 bt, 1,785 sqft, built 2006 3 bed, 3 bt, 1,785 sqft, built 2006 3 bed, 2 bt, 1,535 sqft, built 1986 1 bed, 1 bt, 566 sqft, built 1972 No Condo Fee, RE Tax $402/m Condo Fee $398/m, RE Tax $535/m Condo Fee $837/m, RE Tax $455/m Condo Fee $237/m, RE Tax $199/m Land Included, Deep Water Slip/Lift, Gated Parking, 545 Sqft Wrap Balcony, Pool, Elevator, Beach & Ocean Views, Pool, Elevator, Ocean & Bay Views, 2-Level, New Kitchen, Lots of Updates 2 Deep Water Slips - 35’ & 50’ with Lifts Renovated, Den/4th Bed, 4 Pkg Spaces Renovated Inside & Out, New HVAC

CONTRACT ACCEPTED

OCEAN BLOCK ~ OC OCEAN BLOCK ~ OC SEA NYMPH #3A at 17th Street OCEAN POINT III #232 at 41st Street $150,000 • MLS #MDWO110418 $135,000 • MLS #MDWO110624 1 bed, 1 bt, 450 sqft, built 1960 1 bed, 1 bt, 616 sqft, built 1983 Condo Fee $217/m, RE Tax $116/m Condo Fee $167/m, RE Tax $141/m Pool, Private Porch, 1 Parking Space, Updated Appliances & Furnishings, Updated, ½ Block to Boardwalk Ocean Peak at North Porch

LIGHTHOUSE SOUND LOT #6 NEWARK ~ WATER FRONT LOT 12310 SOUTHHAMPTON via Rt #90 CROPPERS ISLAND RD via #113S $250,000 • MLS #1001561434 $90,000 • MLS #1001558864 Water View, Elevated ½ Acre, 2nd Tee #7, 1.04 Acres, 100’ +/- on Porter Creek Quick Beach Access, Quality Homes, Wooded, County Road Access, GOLF COURSE COMMUNITY South of Berlin Country Lifestyle, Estate Sale with Current Survey

Page 22

Regional Digest Wade’s Law Bill Back In State Senate ANNAPOLIS – Senator Mary Beth Carozza’s Senate Bill 29, or Wade’s Law, was heard in the Judicial Proceedings Committee last week.

This legislation would establish the offense of a life-threatening injury by motor vehicle or vessel as criminal negligence with imprisonment for 18 months and/or a fine of $5,000. At the hearing, Carozza testified about a case from Worcester involving two county road workers, Scott Tatterson and Wade Pusey, who were struck by a criminally negligent driver.

The violent crash occurred on Feb. 22, 2016, and left Tatterson dead and Pusey with several lifethreatening injuries. Senate Bill 29 unanimously passed the State Senate in 2019 but did not advance in the House before adjournment.

Joining Carozza this year was Je’ani Lyles, who suffered lifethreatening injuries as the result of a criminally negligent driver on June 18, 2018. Ms. Lyles and her mother, Carla Ortiz, stressed the sense of urgency for this legislation to pass this session. Senate Bill 29 has the support of the Maryland’s State’s Attorneys’ Association, the Department of Natural Resources, ABATE: Maryland’s only motorcycle rights organization, and of one of the most effective community highway safety organizations CRASH – County Resident Action for Safer Highways.

Diversity Honor For Perdue SALISBURY – Forbes magazine has named Perdue Farms a “Best Employer for Diversity 2020,” marking the second year the company has been featured on the list.

Forbes partnered with market research company Statista to create the third annual ranking of America’s best employers for diversity. The companies were chosen based on an independent survey of 60,000 employees working for American companies employing at least 1,000 people in their U.S. operations. A representative sample of employees were surveyed, and respondents were asked questions regarding the topics of age, gender equality, ethnicity, disability, LGBTQA+ and general diversity concerning their own employer.

“Perdue Farms is celebrating 100 years in business this year and our steadfast commitment to our associates and creating a workplace that is diverse and inSEE NEXT PAGE

Hundreds Turn Out For Offshore Wind Hearing The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

January 24, 2020

Turbine Height Change Subject Of Debate

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

OCEAN CITY – The detriments and merits of super-sized wind turbines offshore were the subject of Saturday’s five-hour-plus public hearing, which ended with state officials mulling a re-opening of an evidentiary hearing on the proposed projects.

In December, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) issued an order opining the proposed changes in wind turbine heights for two approved offshore wind energy projects off the resort’s coast represented a “substantial change” in what was first approved in 2017 and that the changes warranted further review. To that end, the PSC held a public hearing in the Roland E. Powell Convention Center on Saturday to hear testimony from both sides on the proposed changes in the wind turbine heights.

It’s uncertain just how many attended Saturday’s public hearing at the convention center, but a safe bet is somewhere in the 800-1,000 range.

It was a bit of a moving target as some left and others came during the proceedings, but at the height of the hearing, it was standing-room only around the perimeter of the bayfront ballroom.

By way of background, in 2017 the PSC approved two offshore wind energy projects roughly off the coast of Ocean City, or technically awarded Offshore Renewable Energy Credits (ORECs) to the two companies seeking to develop wind farms off the coast including the US Wind project and the Skipjack project.

However, with the advancements in technology, the height of the proposed turbines has increased exponentially since the original PSC approvals, prompting a request to reopen the original approval proceedings. For example, Orsted’s Skipjack project is now committed to using 12-megawatt turbines described as the “world’s largest offshore wind turbine.”

For its part, US Wind has not finalized a decision on the turbines proposed for its project, although the company has stated publicly and in written correspondence to the PSC it is considering turbines considerably larger than the four-megawatt turbines first proposed including, potentially, the same 12-megwatt turbines chosen by the Skipjack project.

For the purposes of Saturday’s public hearing, the scope was intended to be limited only to the proposed size increase in the turbines and not a larger discussion of the merits of offshore wind projects in general, and for the most part those who responded stuck to the issue at hand.

There were times, however, during the hearing when the comments strayed

from the immediate issue at hand.

From the outset, the PSC outlined the ground rules for the hearing followed by a presentation from representatives from both projects on the proposed changes in the turbines, how increasing the size would allow the developers to reduce the number of turbines needed to meet the energy generation goals and how some of the renderings being circulated did not accurately represent the actual visual impacts on the town’s viewshed.

When it came time to open the public hearing, the town’s elected officials, representatives in the General Assembly and even U.S. Congressman Andy Harris had the opportunity to voice their concerns first. It’s important to note Ocean City officials from the beginning have repeatedly said they support clean renewable offshore wind, but have continued to object to the distance of the turbines from the resort’s coast and, more recently, the ever-growing size of the proposed turbines. Mayor Rick Meehan led off on Saturday by reiterating the town’s position on those issues.

“We support these projects,” he said. “The only thing we ask is that these projects are placed out of our viewshed. These turbines are much more dramatic that I ever envisioned.

We only get one chance to get this right. These 12-megawatt turbines are three times the height of the tallest building in Ocean City and would be the tallest structures in Maryland if they were built on land. What is currently proposed will change the viewshed forever. Our future is in your hands and we only get one chance to get this right.”

For his part, Harris suggested the dramatic change in the size of the proposed offshore wind turbines was somewhat disingenuous by the developers of the two projects.

“It’s the most amazing case of baitand-switch I’ve ever seen,” he said.

“I’ve been working on this for three years and until October, I was unaware the 12-megawatt turbines were even being considered. The difference is stunning. Under the law, they can build 12-megawatt turbines 10 miles from shore. That’s the law.”

State Senator Mary Beth Carozza’s district liaison Pat Schrawder read the senator’s comments into the record.

Carozza said in the statement she opposed any potential impact of the two proposed projects on the resort’s viewshed.

“The stunning beauty of our natural viewshed of the Atlantic Ocean in Ocean City could become history with the current plans of two companies to build offshore wind turbines directly off the Delaware and Maryland beaches,” she said. “As Ocean City Mayor Rick

Meehan has so aptly and consistently stated, we support clean energy in Maryland including offshore wind, but stand together in strong opposition to the size and location of the wind turbines. I also have been deeply concerned about the impact of the larger turbines on commercial fishing, maritime transportation and military communications.”

Delegate Wayne Hartman raised concerns about the future of the proposed wind farms and used an analogy to illustrate his view on the growing size of the turbines.

“I have many concerns aside from the viewshed impact,” he said. “I have concerns about property values and tourism. If they turn out to be ineffective, or if one of both of these companies go bankrupt, are there reserves in place to ensure they can be dismantled? Here’s a simple analogy: If I came in and got a permit for a twostory building and then I came back with plans for a four or six or eightstory building, I’d have to go back to the permitting agency.”

Worcester County Commission President Joe Mitrecic pointed out everything the county has to offer, from the natural environment to the great schools to a vibrant economy, is largely tied to the success of Ocean City because the resort contributes 60% of Worcester’s operating budget.

He said the county at-large could be impacted by any detriment to the resort’s tourism economy and property tax base caused by the proposed offshore wind projects.

“We are able to have all of these things because of property values and tourism,” he said. “This is one of those should have, could have moments in our history. We owe future generations the same unobstructed views we enjoy. This project has gone so far past what was originally proposed and it is time to reopen an evidentiary hearing.”

After the developers presented overviews of the two projects and the local and state elected officials had the opportunity to weigh in, the floor was open to a steady stream of commenters on both sides of the issue. It seemed practically every state, regional and even national environmental advocacy group was on hand and their representatives hammered home the importance of clean, renewable energy’s role in reversing climate change and global warming, even if it came at the expense of impacting the viewshed in a small, Maryland coastal town. Perhaps only missing was climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

Joy Weber, develop manager for Orsted’s Skipjack project, said the increase in the height of that project’s SEE NEXT PAGE

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

OCEAN CITY – Upwards of 1,000 people attended the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) hearing last weekend on the proposed height increase of the turbines for two approved offshore wind projects off Ocean City’s coast. At least 100 individuals utilized their allotted time to comment.

All of the comments if printed in their entirety would likely fill all the pages of The Dispatch. The following is a sampling of some of the comments both for and against the proposed projects not included in the article.

“No one is disputing these turbines would be visible and now they’re growing. They changed the deal. We don’t oppose offshore wind and we have taken bold action on our own renewable energy with 51% of the town’s energy now coming from renewable sources, or far greater than the state mandate. The polls have said two-thirds of Marylanders support offshore wind energy, but what business would support something that alienates one-third of its customers.”

Ocean City Councilman John Gehrig “This analogy has been used already, but it’s like going from a singlefamily, one-story rancher to a 10-story condo. If they showed up at City Hall with those changes, they would be told to go back to the beginning of the planning process. These two projects

have tripled in size.”

Ocean City Councilman Dennis Dare “These supersized structures will be extremely visible and spoil our ocean horizon forever. There is an area available for lease 33 miles offshore on the other side of the shipping channel. That lease area could be a win-win for everybody. We beg you to please do this right.”

Ocean City Councilman Tony DeLuca “It seems obvious to me the increasing size of the turbines will greatly impact our views. An unobstructed view is what people pay for when they buy a condo or rent a hotel room. It will make visiting Ocean City less desirable. This is a big deal.”

Ocean City Councilman Matt James “The county not only relies on Ocean City for 60% of its entire budget, but many if not most of our county residents are directly or indirectly employed in Ocean City and any disruption of this revenue source, not only for us, but for our residents, will be crippling.”

Worcester County Commissioner Joe Mitrecic “Is further action necessary? This has to be the largest public hearing I’ve ever seen and on a Saturday morning in January in Ocean City.

This has been a bait-and-switch and there has to be an evidentiary hearing.”

Delegate Steve Hershey (R-36)

“Ocean City is finally engaged.

These projects will desecrate the viewshed. I was very concerned Ocean City has not been engaged and now that it is, I’m not surprised by the size of this crowd. They put the WEA right in the middle of the shipping channel. Do you really think they care about the viewshed impact in Ocean City?”

Delegate Chris Adams (R-37B) “We are facing a climate crisis.

It’s clear in Maryland offshore wind has to be a crucial piece of our portfolio. It’s an incredible opportunity for economic development in Maryland.

We’ll lose that opportunity if we don’t move forward with this now. I urge the commission to move forward as quickly as possible and not delay the development of offshore wind off Maryland’s coast.”

Delegate Lorig Charkoudian (D-20) “We’ve had briefings on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions and we all agree we’re in a climate crisis. We need to have a response to that. We are dedicated to making sure we respond in a timely manner.”

Delegate Carol Krimm (D-3A) “People don’t like change. When smoking was banned in restaurants, people thought it would hurt tourism, but it did not. The planet is warming at an alarming rate. The presence of offshore wind in Maryland will send a clear message we’re committed to doing our part.”

Offshore wind proponent Maggie Porter

… PSC To Determine If Evidentiary Hearing Needed

turbines had perhaps been overstated.

“There is a misconception that needs clearing up,” she said. “The total height of the 12-megawatt turbines will be no more than 35% higher than the eight-megawatt turbines. The height difference will be difficult to perceive. On a clear winter day, they might be visible from 146th Street, or the closest place in Maryland from our project. We can reduce the number of turbines and still meet the PSC’s requirements.”

US Wind’s project manager Salvo Vitale said there are successful offshore wind projects in Europe with little or no impact on tourism and property values in the affected communities.

“Denmark, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany and Sweden all have renewable energy like offshore wind and there are facts that support the science that says they don’t bring any detriment to tourism or real estate

value,” he said.

Nancy Wilkinson of the Maryland Climate Coalition said the climate crisis outweighed any parochial concerns about impacts on viewsheds.

“We are facing a global climate crisis that supersedes any concerns about views,” she said. “For the first time, 11,000 scientists in 50 countries agree on this. Let’s use untapped wind off the coast to begin to reverse that.”

Salisbury Mayor Jake Day straddled the fence somewhat, saying on one hand he supported the concerns of neighboring Ocean City, but that the economies of the Lower Shore counties including Sussex County in Delaware are intrinsically linked and the proposed offshore wind projects represented an opportunity for economic development across the region.

“Those of us who live a bit inland must remind ourselves in this process that we love our beaches and love our neighbors to the east and we must re-

mind us that this is in their block, not ours,” he said. “But I ask us all to remember that it’s still in the neighborhood of the Eastern Shore. We can’t turn our backs on either that growth or the specific concerns about fishing or tourism. Our futures are intertwined and we have to find balance now more than ever that we are one community.”

Throughout the afternoon and early evening, the PSC heard from nearly 100 speakers both for and against the proposed wind farms, and perhaps more to the point, the increased size in the proposed turbine heights. The public comment period in writing or online remains open through the end of January.

At some point thereafter, the PSC will determine if a further evidentiary hearing is warranted. It’s important to note the PSC is the regulatory agency in Maryland and there are numerous steps still in the process at the federal level.

Page 23

Regional Digest clusive is one of the factors that has contributed to our success and longevity”, said Kathryn Danko, chief diversity officer.

Animal Care Distinction MILLSBORO – Mountaire Farms has become the first chicken company in the U.S. to become approved in One Health Certified, a new comprehensive animal care program that is verified by the Department of Agriculture.

One Health Certified focuses on five core areas of animal production: disease prevention, veterinary care, responsible antibiotic use, animal welfare, and environmental impacts. It was developed by a coalition of technical experts from protein companies as well as nonprofit organizations and universities.

Mountaire successfully completed USDA audits in November of 2019 at all its production facilities, including hatcheries, feed mills, grow out, and harvest plants, verifying that the company was complying with the strict new guidelines.

“It was important to us that we participate in a holistic and ethical program that strives for optimal health outcomes for animals, consumers, and the planet,” said Dr. Don Ritter, a veterinarian who serves as director of technical marketing for Mountaire Farms.

Dune Plants Offered OCEAN CITY – For the 15th year in a row, the Town of Ocean City will be offering beach district plants to the public for planting in the secondary dune area.

The plants being offered are hardy plants that tolerate the harsh environment of the oceanfront areas. In addition, these plants provide habitat enhancement, food and shelter, water quality treatment and erosion control to the secondary dune area, which tends to be overlooked and needs attention.

“We began this program to help create habitat and prevent erosion of the area behind the dune which was in need of attention,” said Town of Ocean City Environmental Engineer Gail Blazer. “The plants are very beneficial to the stability of the dune system and help with erosion and scour. Our residents and property owners love the program and it benefits the environment and the beach, so it is a win for everyone.”

Applications are now being accepted, however, the deadline for all applications is March 1. To receive an application, contact Gail Blazer in the town’s engineering department at 410-289-8825 or email gblazer@oceancitymd.gov.

Page 24

Cops & Courts The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Two Arrested For Credit Card Fraud Scheme OCEAN CITY – Two Washington, D.C. area men were arrested on theft and credit card fraud charges last week after allegedly attempting to use multiple phony cards at a north-end sub shop.

Around 4:20 p.m. last Wednesday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to a sandwich shop at 132nd Street for a suspected fraud.

Ocean City Communications informed the officer the four suspects, including two males and two females, were still sitting outside the restaurant on a bench.

The officer arrived and spoke to the manager, who informed police the four suspects had ordered over $54 in food.

One of the suspects, later identified as Mohamed Saidynaly, 21, of Silver Spring, Md., went next door to a bar, while another suspect, identified as Sophian Seidnaly, 26, of Rockville, Md., attempted to pay for the food with a credit card, according to police reports.

The manager told police the card Seidnaly presented had no major credit card carrier’s name on it, such as Visa and Mastercard, and the manager asked Seidnaly how to run it. According to police reports, Seidnaly told the manager it was a gift card and he did not know. The manager tried it two different ways and the card declined each time.

Seidnaly produced another card and it declined. Saidynaly returned and told the manager he was going to get a different card from their vehicle to pay for the food and returned with yet another card. After several attempts with the third card, the clerk was prompted to enter it manually.

However, when the clerk attempted to enter the card’s numbers manually, Saidynaly spoke up quickly and insisted the card information not be entered in that way. Finally, Saidynaly produced yet another card with no other information on it except the name Emmanuel. The clerk questioned why none of the other cards presented thus far included that name, Saidynaly told her it was a family name and insisted the card be run, according to police reports.

That card worked and Saidynaly signed the receipt and the group left with the food, but did not immediately

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leave. Suspecting some kind of credit card fraud, the store manager called the police and the OCPD officer arrived on scene a short time later.

Meanwhile, the OCPD officer spoke to a bartender at the neighboring business reporting a similar experience with Saidynaly. The bartender told police Saidynaly entered the bar and attempted to make a purchase, producing a credit card that declined when the chip feature did not work. The bartender told police she attempted to put the card numbers in manually, but Saidynaly insisted she use the magnetic stripe before cancelling the purchase and leaving, according to police reports.

The OCPD officer interviewed Saidynaly and Seidnaly outside the sandwich shop and asked them to produce the cards with which they attempted to purchase the food. Each produced a couple of cards, none of which matched the numbers on the declined receipts from the attempted food purchase.

Suspicious of the multiple cards and the multiple attempts to use them, the OCPD officer searched Saidynaly and Seidnaly and the vehicle. According to police reports, Saidynaly was in possession of as many as eight different credit cards with different numbers and names, while Seidnaly was in possession of 15.

One of the cards Saidynaly possessed had the name “Emmanuel” on it. When the officer asked the suspect why no other cards in their possession had the name Emmanuel on them, Saidynaly told police a man named Emmanuel owed him money and put the money owed on a pre-paid credit card in his name.

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January 24, 2020

fraud and theft scheme. Most of the cards found in their possession had the chip feature mutilated. The officer knew the magnetic strip on credit cards could be reprogrammed with information from a different account, but the chip feature could not be tampered with.

A further search of the vehicle revealed a device the officer knew to be an electronic scanner used to scan magnetic strip data from one card and reprogram it onto a different card. Each suspect was arrested and charged with theft and credit card fraud.

Alleged Punch In Nose Results In Assault Charge OCEAN CITY – A Rockville, Md. man was arrested on assault charges last week after allegedly punching his ex-girlfriend in the nose during an altercation at a downtown hotel.

Around 2:30 a.m. last Saturday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to a hotel at 25th Street for a reported domestic assault that had already occurred. The officer met with a hotel employee who informed police that occupants in several rooms on the fourth floor had complained of a loud argument coming from unit 419. Meanwhile, Ocean City Communications informed the officer a 911 call from a female had originated inside unit 419.

The officer responded to unit 419 and was met by a female victim who reportedly told the officer she had called to cancel the initial call and that it was a non-emergency. According to police reports, the victim had a laceration on her nose and redness and swelling on the right side of her face.

The officer also observed dried blood

around the victim’s nostrils and around her mouth. The victim was somewhat reluctant to tell the officer what had happened, only that she had been in a physical altercation about an hour earlier with her ex-boyfriend, identified as Daniel Johnson, 25, of Rockville, Md. According to police reports, the hotel room was disheveled with multiple containers of alcoholic beverages scattered about. The officer also observed dried blood splatter on a bed sheet and also on two separate hand towels in the bathroom.

The officer interviewed another couple who were staying in the same room with Johnson and the alleged victim. According to police reports, around 1:30 a.m., each couple was sleeping in separate beds when Johnson and the victim began arguing. While the victim was attempting to fall back asleep, Johnson allegedly moved over to the other bed, sat next to the female in the other couple and began rubbing her leg and asking for sexual favors, according to police reports.

The second female had to physically push Johnson away, which is when the victim woke up. According to police reports, the victim asked Johnson to leave, and when he refused, she threatened to call the police. At that point, Johnson reportedly grabbed the victim by her shoulders and punched her in the face with a closed fist, according to police reports. The altercation spilled into the bathroom before the two women were able to push Johnson out of the hotel room.

The officer went back down to the hotel lobby to interview Johnson about his version of the events. According to police reports, Johnson refused to speak with the officer at first, but told police he did not inflict the injuries to the victim’s nose and that she had punched herself. Based on the testimony of the victim and witnesses, Johnson was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree assault.

Guilty Pleas For Assault, DUI OCEAN CITY – A California woman arrested in August on at least 20 charges after getting stopped for driving under the influence and going on an assault and verbal tirade spree pleaded guilty this week to two counts in District Court.

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... Cops & Courts

January 24, 2020

Around 12:15 a.m. on Aug. 26, Ocean City Communications broadcasted a lookout after a concerned citizen reported an allegedly intoxicated driver leaving a parking lot in the area of 45th Street. According to police reports, the vehicle had its left turn signal activated, but instead swerved right across multiple lanes causing vehicles to brake to avoid hitting it.

The vehicle stopped briefly at a red traffic signal, but reportedly accelerated quickly through a parking lot and re-entered Coastal Highway without stopping to look for oncoming traffic. OCPD officers stopped the vehicle in the bus lane at 40th Street and made contact with the driver, identified as Lisa Grieco, 54, of Pasadena, California.

According to police reports, Grieco exhibited signs of intoxication and admitted to consuming multiple Bloody Mary’s at different locations around the resort. She reportedly did not complete field sobriety tests to the officers’ satisfaction and admitted she should have taken a cab or an Uber.

At that point, she was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and impaired. However, she reportedly resisted arrest, screaming expletives at police officers and scrapping with them as they attempted to take her into custody. According to police reports, she shoved one officer and stomped on the foot of another. She

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Page 25

also kicked an officer and grabbed another’s hands, screaming “you’re so strong,” according to police reports.

Grieco continued screaming, laughing and assaulting officers during the arrest process and ultimately had to be put in a violent person restraint device in order to be put into a transport van. By now, a crowd of pedestrians had gathered to watch the scene unfold and numerous motorists slowed or stopped to watch the proceedings, according to police reports.

Grieco continued to scream, despite the officers’ warnings to stop, shouting “get off my [expletive deleted] back,” and “you’re in real [expletive deleted] trouble if you break my back,” according to police reports. According to police reports, Grieco continued to scream “help me,” and “call 911,” over and over at least 200 times during her transport to the Public Safety Building for processing. At the Public Safety Building, Grieco reportedly assaulted at least two public safety aides assisting in the booking process.

Once in a holding cell, Grieco continued to scream “call 911,” over 100 more times as she banged on the cell door. According to police reports, Grieco was so loud her screams could be heard in the District Court Commissioner’s office through three concrete walls. All in all, Grieco was charged with 20 total counts including driving while impaired and under the influence, resisting arrest, assaults on police officers, disorderly conduct and numerous other traffic offenses.

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Page 26

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

January 24, 2020

This week marks the end of an era, as Terri French is stepping away from spotlighting local nightlife. We salute her hard work and dedication and her commitment to publishing more than 11,000 photos of faces in local places around the region.

Terri will remain as an account executive, a position she has held since 1997. For her last page, she stopped at Fager’s Island’s Clambake event, Greene Turtle West as well as welcomed back Higgins South and Coins Pub from winter break. Though Terri can’t be replaced, we will welcome a new photographer next week.

Greene Turtle West: Introducing a new local band named W.A.C.K. Kyle Hill, Conner Poole, AJ Fox, and Wilson Sawyer are really talented.

By Terri French

Faces

SPOTLIGHT ON THE REGIONAL RESTAURANT AND BAR SCENE

Greene Turtle West: Bartenders Bobby Fox and Courtney Heener and General Manager Chad Rogers

In Places

Coins Pub: Keith Sunbury, Bunky Tobak, Jimmy “Woo” Waters and Lucy Yost

Fager’s Island Greeters: Oana Casmir, Frank Cascio and Erin Jones

Higgins Crab House: James Winnerling, Irma Membreno and Tim Hensley

Higgins Crab House: Ray Gawel, Ashley Kooker and Scott Kimmel

Fager’s Island: Dogfish Head’s Founder & Brewer, Sam Calagione and Carey Distributors Owner Dick Carey

Fager’s Island: Thomas Cahall and Daniel Fitzgerald

Coins Pub: Tim Eckert, Denise DeRoche and Crystal Langdon

Fager’s Island Chefs: Richie Kammermeier and Raymond Simmons

No Support For 2nd Early Vote Site

January 24, 2020

BY CHARLENE SHARPE

STAFF WRITER

SNOW HILL – An effort that might have helped bring a second early voting site to Worcester County failed to get the support of the majority of the Worcester County Commissioners this week.

A proposal from Commissioner Josh Nordstrom to ask the Eastern Shore Delegation to add flexibility regarding early voting to the state code failed with just three commissioners voting to support it and four voting against it.

“I’m a little disappointed but I gave it a shot,” Nordstrom said. “Maybe we can try again in the future.”

Last February, the commissioners were presented with a petition asking for the establishment of a second early voting site in Worcester County. While there is a location for early voting in Berlin, residents of the southern end of the county said the commute made it difficult for some to get from Pocomoke to Berlin. The addition of a second early voting site was not approved, however, as it would have cost the county more than $100,000 to set up.

Nordstrom told his peers Tuesday he believed much of that cost came from the fact that the county would be required to have early voting locations open for eight full days. He said he didn’t think Pocomoke needed eight days of early voting but could benefit from a site that was open for early voting two or three days.

He said he’d approached members of the Eastern Shore Delegation about the possibility of amending state code to give counties with smaller populations more flexibility in setting up early voting and they’d asked him to submit a resolution in support of the effort from the board of commissioners.

“In addition to the required main early voting site—operating under established parameters—counties with a population of less than 125,000 registered voters shall have the option of opening additional sites for no fewer than two consecutive days at a length of no less than six consecutive hours on either day, encompassed in the established time frame for early voting,” read the amendment Nordstrom proposed.

When asked what a second early voting site would cost the county if it was only offered for a few days, staff estimated it would cost at least $50,000 less than initially proposed.

“Without a fixed amount I don’t think I can support this,” Commissioner Jim Bunting said.

Nordstrom said sending a letter would not bind the county to anything.

“It does not obligate us to open a second early voting site it just gives us more options if we decide to do that,” he said.

Nordstrom’s motion to send a letter in support of the proposed early voting amendment to the delegation failed with a 3-4 vote. Commissioners Jim Bunting, Chip Bertino, Bud Church and Ted Elder were opposed.

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Page 27

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Supporters Urge Funds For Mardela School Renovation

Page 28

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

BY BETHANY HOOPER

STAFF WRITER

SALISBURY – Concerned citizens are calling on officials to restore funding for improvements at Mardela Middle and High School after learning the project had been removed from the county’s proposed Capital Improvement Program.

On Tuesday, residents and school officials came before the Wicomico County Council in a public hearing on the proposed capital budget and fiscal years 2021-2025 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) seeking support to re-

store funding for a renovation and addition project at Mardela Middle and High School.

Resident Michelle Wright said she learned County Executive Bob Culver had removed the Mardela project from the CIP earlier this month. She added that funding was desperately needed for improvements at the school.

“I want to make sure everyone understands a project such as this takes five to 10 years from start to finish,” she said. “We can’t wait five to 10 years for our kids to get a school that they so desperately need. Right now, the current CIP does not have any funding for

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Mardela for the next five years.”

Mardela Middle and High School was built in 1958 and received its last major renovation in 1980. The renovation and addition project is second on the school system’s priority list behind the replacement of Beaver Run Elementary School.

Last March, officials presented the school board with a feasibility study outlining four options for improving Mardela Middle and High. The recommended option – which is estimated to cost roughly $72 million – called for an extensive renovation and addition featuring enhanced instructional space, a new auxiliary gym, common areas for specific age groups and more.

The project was included in Culver’s CIP presentation in December.

But residents told the council this week they were surprised the project had since been removed.

“Every one of our elected officials claims to stand for education,” said Eileen Johnson, a representative for the advocacy group PUSH4Education. “It’s time for them to work together to get it done.”

This will be the second year in a row funding for the school project has been removed from the CIP. Wright said Culver’s reasoning for removing the project from the proposed CIP this year rested on the state’s decision to defer planning approval for the school because of fiscal constraints. Superintendent Donna Hanlin told the council the state’s deferral did not mean the recommendation process had concluded.

“While the state has not yet given planning approval for the Mardela Middle and High renovation project – or the Westside Intermediate roof, for that matter, which has remained in the CIP – the state is only one-third of the way through its recommendations this year,” Hanlin said. “This process is ongoing. The state will continue to consider the Mardela project as it develops its final list of recommendations, which may not come until June.”

She urged county officials to work together to put the Mardela project back into the CIP. “If the state doesn’t see that the

January 24, 2020

county is allocating funds for school projects, the state will be less likely to give planning approval and eventually state construction funding,” she said.

Members of the county council this week said they would work with the administration to include the project in the CIP. While the council can approve, decrease and delete items in the planning document, it cannot add or increase projects.

In a work session following the public hearing, Director of Administration Wayne Strausburg said the administration was working alongside school system officials to evaluate what funds can be repurposed.

“We cannot repurpose any bond funds until all the projects that were approved in that bond issuance are certified, completed or abandoned,” he said. “In some instances, they can be repurposed and in others they can’t.”

Strausburg told the council Culver supported the renovation and addition project at Mardela, but questioned the scope and cost of the project.

“I certainly agree that something has to be done with that school,” he said. “I believe the executive agrees with that. It’s a matter of coming to an agreement with what and when, and making those decisions in light of state actions.”

Strausburg said the county could benefit from proposed legislation in Annapolis that would provide counties with fewer than 20,000 students additional funding for soft costs, including architectural, engineering and consulting fees. He asked for patience as officials determined what funding would come from the state and how the county would fund recommendations from the Kirwan Commission.

“All I’m urging at this point in time is a little bit of patience, gathering more information and having further discussions so we can come to an agreement that makes sense,” he said.

Members of the council said it was important to add the Mardela project into the CIP if the county wanted to take advantage of state funding. But Strausburg said officials still had time to consider the project.

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The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Page 29

Page 30

1st Service was well represented by Jim Hinds and Mike Holter at the Ocean City Chamber January Business After Hours held at Ocean Downs Casino.

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

People

By Jeanette Deskiewicz

FEATURING THOSE HELPING CAUSES IN THE RESORT AREA

Sons of the American Legion Berlin Post #123 volunteers Morris Jones, Rick Jordan, Richard Widgeon, Ray Edwards, Don Price and Woody Cooper held an oyster fritter sale to support their veterans programs.

In Society

January 24, 2020

Fox’s Pizza employees’ Tabitha Bekeridge, Michele Knapp, and Loretta Kletzli did a wonderful job hosting the Ocean Pines Chamber Business After Hours this month.

During the Ocean Pines Chamber January Business After Hours, a ribbon cutting was held for Coastal Home Care, with Catherine Love and Anthony D’Antonio in attendance.

The “bread winners” of the Worcester Chapter #102 Order of the Eastern Star oyster sandwich sale were Charles McWilliams and Corie Callahan.

Hanging out at the Ocean City Chamber January Business After Hours were Gussie Sholtis and Jenny Sheppard of Sheppard Realty, Inc.

Having a great time raising money for The CRICKET Center were Patricia and Carroll Berdan of the Worcester Chapter #102 Order of the Eastern Star.

Members of the Worcester Chapter #102 Order of the Eastern Star, Carolyn Witt and Shirley McWilliam, helped out in the kitchen for their oyster sandwich sale to benefit The CRICKET Center.

Ocean Downs Casino Food and Beverage Department’s Tameka Williams and Bob Batts provided service with a smile at the Ocean City Chamber January Business After Hours.

Introducing the Patron and Matron of oyster fritter frying, Richard and Terry Jackson, working hard for Worcester Chapter #102 Order of the Eastern Star CRICKET Center fundraiser.

January 24, 2020

Obituaries Bohdan Macuk

BERLIN – Bohdan Macuk (April 17, 1931-Jan. 16, 2020) was born in what is today Western Ukraine in the village of Konyushky. There he lived with his family until World War II. In 1943, he and his family left their village as refugees and later were incarcerated in a Nazi labor camp. The camp was liberated by Allied forces at the end of the war, and the family was subsequently housed in a succession of Displaced Persons camps in post-war Europe for several years.

In 1949, Bohdan and his family were able to resettle in the United States when they were sponsored by a prominent farming family in Berlin. Bohdan’s father was given a job and the family a home and a fresh start.

As a young man, Bohdan enlisted in the U.S. Army and served overseas. After leaving the service, he moved BOHDAN MACUK to Baltimore, where he would become an industrial mechanic, marry his wife Halyna, and together start and raise a family. Bohdan was always an active member of the Ukrainian-American community in Baltimore, serving as an officer of the Ukrainian Self-Reliance Credit Union and performing in the St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church Choir, among many other roles within local UkrainianAmerican cultural and civic institutions.

In 1978, Bohdan and his family moved to Berlin, so that Bohdan could help his father expand his poultry farm and gradually transition into retirement.

For years, Bohdan was among the most outstanding producers for Perdue Farms. He was also active in the small but proud Ukrainian-American community on the Eastern Shore. In his spare time, Bohdan passionately followed developments in U.S. and Ukrainian politics and international relations, voraciously reading materials from a wide variety of sources. He proudly sent his three children off to college and instilled in them and his grandchildren a strong commitment to honesty, hard work and dedication to family. He was always grateful for the opportunities that the United States had given him and his family, and he felt strongly that keeping well informed and being active in the democratic process were key to keeping the American dream alive and well.

Bohdan is survived by his daughter, Teresa Tyndall; his son and daughterin-law, Michael and Denise Macuk; his son, Mark Macuk; his grandson and granddaughter-in-law, Matthew and Olivia Tyndall; and his grandson, Daniel Tyndall. Bohdan was predeceased by his wife, Halyna, and their eldest son, Bohdan. A service in memory of Bohdan’s life will be held at the Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin on Saturday, Jan. 25 at noon. Visitation will precede the service from 11 a.m. until noon.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in his SEE PAGE 32

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Page 31

... Obituaries

Page 32

FROM PAGE 31 memory can be made to Coastal Hospice, P.O. Box 1733, Salisbury, Md. 21802 or United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, Inc., 1206 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 19111.

Arrangements are in the care of the Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin.

Letters of condolence may be sent to the family at www.burbagefuneralhome.com

Grant B. Spurrier OCEAN CITY – Grant B. Spurrier, age 90, of Ocean City, formerly of Baltimore County, passed away surrounded by loving family on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020 at his home.

He was born in Baltimore on May 21, 1929 son of the late Harry R. Spurrier and the late Ethel B. (Dennis) Spurrier.

Grant retired as an ironworker with Iron-

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch worker Local #16 in Baltimore. He will be remembered for his great sense of humor, love of family and love of the Baltimore Orioles.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Rita Spurrier in 2013; his son Grant B. Spurrier, Jr. in 1988; four brothers, Elmer, Harry, Nelson and Donald Spurrier; and a sister, Colleen Davis. He is survived by his second wife, Grace (Kolb) Spurrier; his daughter, Jayne Fiore; son-in-law Gregory Fiore; four grandchildren, Grant Spurrier, III, Andrew Spurrier, Justin Fiore and Amanda Fiore; and six greatgrandchildren, Abbey and AJ Spurrier and Ava, Ella Lydia and Julia Fiore.

A celebration of his life will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020 at SonRise Church, 10026 Main St., Berlin Md. 21811.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions in Grant’s name to SonRise Church at the above address. Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.melsonfuneralser-

vices.com

Murray Ross Smith, Sr. BISHOPVILLE – Murray Ross Smith, Sr., born in Denton to Raymond and Mabel S. Smith, on Oct. 24, 1931, passed peacefully of complications of vascular dementia on Jan. 20, 2020 at Harrison House of Snow Hill.

He is survived by his devoted wife of 56 years, Rosalie Gault Smith, and beloved sons, Stephen G. Smith of Massachusetts and M. Ross Smith, Jr. and wife Tetsuko of Durham, N.C., and two adored grandchildren, Karen and Spencer (“Tom”) Smith. MURRAY ROSS An older brother, Pre- SMITH, SR. ston W. Smith of Denton, and a special niece Marian Grimes of Wilmington, Del., a brother-in-law David and wife Beverly Gault of Bishopville and many nieces and nephews also survive.

January 24, 2020 Known by most as Smitty, he served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean Conflict, and later graduated from what is now Salisbury University in 1960. He began his teaching career in Montgomery County and retired from Red Clay School District in Delaware in 1990.

He and Rosalie raised their family in Newark, Del., since 1963. They lived in Bishopville since 1992.

Always active in sports, he was inducted into Salisbury University’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a standout soccer (“The Talented Toe”), baseball and basketball player. He coached and officiated high school basketball while still playing sports himself for many years. Later, in retirement, he became an avid gardener and the same delight that fueled his love of sports was transplanted to another field. Throughout his life he took joy in the company of his many friends.

Forever the teacher, he was in a study with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and his brain was given to Johns Hopkins. As was his wish, his body was donated to the Anatomy Board of Maryland for use in medical research.

In honor of his memory consider a donation in support of youth and education.

“Somewhere there is the spirit of a young boy, happy youth and an enthusiastic man running toward a voice, “play ball”.”

A gathering will be held in his memory at a later date.

Edna Powell Bowden BERLIN – Edna Powell Bowden, age 98, of Berlin, passed away at her home on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, surrounded by loved ones.

Born in Newark, she was the daughter of the late Edgar Powell and Gertrude Langmaid Powell.

She is survived by her children, Ralph Bowden Jr. and his wife Debbie of Snow Hill, Emily Horseman and her husband Raymond of Linkwood, Md., Roy Bowden of Berlin, Virginia Bowden also of Berlin, Dorothy Greenwalt of Whaleyville and Albert Bowden and his wife Betty of Willards.

Also surviving are 14 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren and three greatgreat-grandchildren. Surviving also is one brother, Frank Powell of Newark.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 73 years, Ralph Bowden Sr., who passed away in 2013. Also, preceding her in death were her sisters, Nellie Jackson, Daisy Snyder, Edith Bowden and Gladys Trader; brother Burton Powell; son-in-law Marvin Greenwalt Jr.; daughter-in-law Faith Bowden; two grandsons; two granddaughters; and one great-grandson.

Mrs. Bowden and her husband had owned and operated a dairy farm for many years and she had also been a poultry producer for many years.

A graveside service was held at Bowen Cemetery in Newark. Officiating was grandson Pastor Bruce Bowden.

A donation in her memory can be made to Coastal Hospice, P.O. Box 1733, Salisbury, Md. 21804.

Letters of condolence may be sent via www.burbagefuneralhome.com.

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Things I Like ...

Page 33

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Morning sports talk radio Ocean sounds in an old conch shell Beach snow scenes A parking space next to cart return at the grocery store Sound of a well-played acoustic guitar Hearing news of snow at home while away on a warm vacation The occasional weekends with no kid events to attend A project’s before and after photos A positive youth coach When a long-term plan plays out as expected Donating to a thrift shop

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Page 34

Every Monday: TOPS Meeting 5:30-6:30 p.m. Atlantic General Hospital, Berlin. Take Off Pounds Sensibly is a support group promoting weight loss and maintaining a healthy life-style.410-641-0157.

Every Monday: Delmarva Chorus Meeting 7 p.m. Ocean Pines Community Center.

Women of all ages invited to sing with the group. 410-641-6876.

Second Monday Of Month: Ocean Pines Camera Club 7 p.m. Ocean Pines branch library. Monthly get-together to share photos, tips, programs. Group goes on a photo shoot the Saturday following meeting and hosts a hands-on workshop the last Thursday of each month. Professional and amateur photographers and new members welcome.

Meets second Monday of each month.

Every Tuesday: TOPS Meeting 5:30-7 p.m. Worcester County Health Center, 9730 Healthway Dr., Berlin. Take Off Pounds Sensibly is a support and educational group promoting weight loss and healthy lifestyle. jeanduck47@gmail.com.

Second Tuesday of Month: Eastern Shore Stamp Club Meeting 6 p.m. Salisbury branch, Wicomico County Library. Meetings held in basement.

Every Wednesday: Delmarva Hand Dance Club Dance To Sounds of ’50s And ’60s Music 5:30-9 p.m. Ocean City Elks Lodge, 13708 Sinepuxent Ave. $5 donation per person to benefit veterans and local charities in the Delmarva region. Members and guests welcome. dance@delmarvahanddancing.com or http://delmarvahanddancing.com. 410-208-1151.

Every Wednesday: Rotary Club The Ocean City-Berlin Rotary Club meets Wednesdays on a weekly basis at the Residence Inn in Ocean City at 6 p.m.

Second Wednesday:

Things To Do The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Polish American Club Of Delmarva Meeting 2-4 p.m. Columbus Hall. Anyone of Polish or Slavic descent is welcome. No meetings June, July, August. 410-723-2639 or 410-250-2548.

Every Thursday: Beach Singles 45 Plus, happy hour 4-7 p.m., Harpoon Hanna’s, 10100 Coastal Hwy., Ocean City. 302436-9577, 410-524-0649, beachsingles.org.

Second Thursday: Ocean Pines Garden Club 10 a.m. Ocean Pines Community Center.

Visitors and new members welcome.

Every Friday: Knights Of Columbus #9053 Bingo Doors open at 5 p.m., bingo at 6:30 p.m.

9901 Coastal Hwy., Ocean City. Possible to win the $1,000 big jackpot each week. 410524-7994.

Every Friday: FORGE Contemporary Youth And Family Ministry 6:30-8:30 p.m. FORGE Center, 7804 Gumboro Rd., Pittsville. Designed for kids ages 5-65, the program provides a meal, music, games, activities and a life lesson that can be of use to anyone. Christian-based program but does not require the practice of faith to attend. 443-366-2813.

First Saturday Of Month: Writers Group 10 a.m.-noon. Berlin branch, Worcester County Library. Anyone interested in writing is invited to join the group and share a story, poem or essay or just come and enjoy listening to others. This is a free activity. New

members are always welcome. The group is comprised of amateur as well as professional, published writers willing to share their knowledge and offer tips on being creative with words.

January 25: AYCE Breakfast Buffet Whaleyville United Methodist Church will host from 7-10 a.m. Adults, $8 and child, $4.

January 25: Spaghetti Dinner Friendship United Methodist Church will host from 3-6 p.m. Adults, $10; children 612, $5; and children 5 and under, free.

January 25: Fire And Ice Fire and Ice with the Funsters will be held at Mangos in Bethany Beach from 7-11 p.m.

Besides the band, there will be heavy hor d'ourervres and desserts, a cash bar, silent and chance auctions, and a 50/50 drawing.

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online at FireandIcede.com, at Oceanova Spa in Bethany, or at the door.

January 25: Drag Queen Show Bourbon Street Babes Drag Queen Show benefitting Women Supporting Women in memory of Chris Jones. 28th Street Pit & Pub. Two shows – 4pm & 8pm. $35 for one show $60 for both. For tickets call 443-9444763 January 27: Chorus Singing Anyone interested in signing barbershop style for the Delmarva Chorus, a chapter of the Sweet Adelines International, is wel-

January 24, 2020 come at 7 p.m. at the Ocean Pines Community Center. 410-208-4009

January 28: Play It Safe Fundraiser The Ocean City Elks Lodge on 138th Street will host the Play It Safe Italian Feast and Silent Auction, 5-8 p.m., featuring pastas, beverage, dessert and a bountiful silent auction. Adults, $15; children 4-9, $6; under 4, free. Pay at the door.

February 4: Taco Night The 11th Annual $1 Taco Night will be held at Stephen Decatur High School from 2:30-7 p.m. in the cafeteria. In addition to chicken and beef tacos, there will also be sides, drinks, and desserts. Reservations are not necessary. Patrons can dine in or carry out.

All proceeds benefit Stephen Decatur High School.

February 4-6: Basic Boating Safety Course US Coast Guard Auxiliary offering at the Ocean Pines Library, 6-9 p.m. $15 for all three sessions. Register by calling Barry Cohen, 410-935-4807

February 11: Plein Air Demo Local artist Marthia Peleggi will lead a demonstration at 3:30 p.m. at the Berlin Library loft. Event will be repeated March 17 at 3:30 p.m. She will answer questions about plein air and oil painting process.

February 22: Pancake Breakfast Kiwanis will host in the Ocean Pines Community Center Assateague Room, 8-11 a.m.

Carryout available.

February 22: Gospel Sing & Dinner February 22: Gospel Sing & Dinner Powellville United Methodist will serve BBQ or crab cake platters from 4-6 p.m. followed by music from Pastor Danny Travers in the sanctuary.

March 21: Steak Dinner American Legion Post 123, Boggs-Disharoon Squadron 123 and Sons of the American Legion hosting 4-7 p.m. in Berlin.

Community

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Page 35

News In Photos

The Ocean City Lodge of the Sons and Daughters of Italy installed a new president and executive board at its January meeting. Pictured with the new board are newly installed President Vincent Mollicone and outgoing President Vito Potenza. Sons and Daughters of Italy Lodge 2474 is a Social and Cultural organization that meets monthly, except in the summer, at the Ocean City Knights of Columbus Hall.

The Ocean Pines Players, coming off a successful and active 2019 season, held its annual meeting Jan. 11 and elected new officers and an expanded Board of Directors. Pictured, from left, are new offucers Kathy Wiley, vice president; Steve Habeger, secretary, Mary Ellen Chilcoat, treasurer; and Jerry Gietka, president. Other board members include Carol Aikman, Patricia Diniar, Karen McClure, Patty Jo Moore, Judy Nelson, Ed Pinto and Dorothy Shelton. McClure is the immediate past president.

Submitted Photos

The Elks “Hoop Shoot” Free Throw Contest is the largest and most visible of the many youth activities sponsored by Elks' lodges. Ocean Elks Lodge 2645’s Hoop Shoot was held this month at Worcester Prep and 47 children from various schools participated. Pictured are 33 volunteers including event chairman John Belzner and Lodge Exalted Ruler Kevin Matthews.

The Arcadia Chapter of The Questers toured the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art and enjoyed an informative history of the decoy industry and the art of wood carving wild birds. The Questers support the preservation and restoration of historic buildings and landmarks for educational purposes.

The women of "Books by the Bay" book club are pictured enjoying their holiday luncheon at the Inn on the Ocean on the Boardwalk in Ocean City.

Local Students Form Bonds With Special Needs Athletes

Page 36

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

BERLIN – Members of the Worcester Preparatory School Volunteers Club made a lasting impact in the local community by partnering with TOPSoccer to work with special needs young athletes.

The students included Alec Burbage, Ty Burton, Jordan Campbell, Gavin Carmody, Damiana Colley, Ryan Cronin, Grace Hopkins, Max Huber, Noah Hudson, J.P. Issel, Ashley Laws, Jacob Lewis, C.C. Lizas, Kathryn Marini, Spencer Paquette, Maddy Shanahan, Sam Tinkler, Maddy Warren and Alec Willing.

Back in September, WPS Acting Head of School/Head of Upper School Mike Grosso brought the TOPSoccer program to the attention of the WPS Volunteers Club. TOPSoccer is a community-based training program run out of River Soccer Club that matches athletes who have intellectual, emotional and physical disabilities with high school volunteers who become their “buddies” during the training sessions. Throughout the fall, more than a dozen students volunteered on Saturday afternoons to work with these

January 24, 2020

Above left, senior Maddy Shanahan works on a ball drill with TOPSoccer athlete Carson Green. At right, seniors Spencer Paquette and Gavin Carmody are pictured with TOPSoccer athlete Gabe Merritt.

Submitted Photos

young athletes in a safe, fun, supportive and inclusive environment.

Though WPS does not require community service hours for students, many do work to help their communities by their own volition. TOPSoccer is one such way the students helped to better the lives of these special needs participants and their families.

“These students have turned out

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each week in great numbers, and whether they realize it or not, they were positive influences on these kids and their families. We are grateful for their wonderful way with the children as well as their willingness to volunteer,” said Steve Green, one of the organizers of the TOPSoccer program. “These special needs kids can’t participate in competitive soccer leagues for a variety of

reasons. This results in feelings of alienation from society for the kids and their families. This program provides them an outlet to just play in a fun and safe environment. The buddies are what make it a success. We can’t do it without them. These volunteers give the parents a break for one hour, and they get to watch their kids interact with positive people in a supportive way.”

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Berlin Looking To Offer Cigarette Butt Recycling

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

BY CHARLENE SHARPE

STAFF WRITER

BERLIN – Berlin will soon join the growing number of municipalities working to reduce pollution through cigarette butt recycling.

Thanks to a grant, the town has purchased 20 cigarette butt disposal canisters that could be installed as soon as this week. As they’re emptied, butts will be sent to TerraCycle, a company that offers free recycling.

“The beauty of it, it’s not your average butt collector,” said Ivy Wells, the town’s economic and community development director. “There’s a very easy cannister to unlock. We put them in a bag and box and mail them to TerraCycle. They recycle them.”

According to Wells, she applied for a Main Street Improvement grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development in May. She asked for funding to allow the town to buy new trash cans and recycling receptacles as well as butt disposal containers. The town learned it had received a $10,000

grant for the project in the fall.

Wells said the butt containers first caught her eye at a Main Street conference she attended.

“I met the manufacturer and learned about them,” she said.

Cigarette butt recycling has also been in the news, as Ocean City began efforts to collect and recycle butts in 2019. While Berlin doesn’t host the number of people Ocean City does, Wells said there was still a butt pollution problem. Prior to applying for the

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grant, she walked through town and photographed areas where cigarette butts tended to pile up. Those are the places she plans to have staff install the disposal canisters. Her department and the town’s public works team will coordinate efforts to ensure the canisters are emptied as needed.

“We will make sure it’s done,” she said.

Once the butts are collected, they’ll be mailed to TerraCycle, which provides free shipping and donates a dol-

HERE’S MY CARD

lar to the Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program for every pound of discarded cigarettes collected.

As far as the new trash cans and recycling receptacles, Wells said they were currently under production. The stone colored cans will feature an embedded Berlin logo — the same one found on the town’s wayfinding signs.

“The town logo on these is embedded so it takes longer to produce them,” she said.

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Page 38

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

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The Dispatch

January 24, 2020

Legal Notices

LEGAL RATES Legal advertising rate is $7 per column inch. Deadline for all legal advertising is Tuesday at noon. For more information, call 410-641-4563 or fax 410-641-0966.

SECOND INSERTION

HASSANI, FOCAS, & FIFER, PA ERIC T. FIFER 22 WEST PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE SUITE 606 TOWSON, MD 21204 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Register of Wills for Worcester County Room 102 - Court House One W. Market Street Snow Hill, MD 21863-1074 3x 1-17, 1-24, 1-31

SECOND INSERTION NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT NOTICE TO CREDITORS NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 17, 2020 BEVERLY S. WRIGHT Personal Representative True Test Copy TERRI WESTCOTT Register of Wills for Worcester County Room 102 - Court House One W. Market Street Snow Hill, MD 21863-1074 3x 1-17, 1-24, 1-31

FIRST INSERTION IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR WORCESTER COUNTY, MD C-23-FM-19-411 IN THE MATTER OF ETHEL STURGIS PIERCE

ESTATE NO. 18125

ESTATE NO. 18129

FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO

Notice is given that the REGISTER OF WILLS COURT of YORK COUNTY, PA, appointed JAY L. GOOD, 160 GLENVUE ROAD, GLEN ROCK, PA 17327, as the EXECUTOR of the Estate of GLORIA N. GOOD, who died on JUNE 23, 2019, domiciled in Pennsylvania, USA. The Maryland resident agent for service of process is ERIC T. FIFER, ESQ., whose address is 22 WEST PENNSYLVANIA AVE., SUITE 606, TOWSON, MD 21204. At the time of death, the decedent owned real or leasehold property in the following MARYLAND counties: WORCESTER. All persons having claims against the decedent must file their claims with the Register of Wills for Worcester County with a copy to the foreign personal representative on or before the earlier of the following dates: (1) Six months from the date of the decedent's death, except if the decedent died before October 1, 1992, nine months from the date of the decedent's death; or (2) Two months after the foreign personal representative mails or otherwise delivers to the creditor a copy of this published notice or other written notice, notifying the creditor that the claim will be barred unless the creditor presents the claims within two months from the mailing or other delivery of the notice.

Claims filed after that date or after a date extended by law will be barred.

To all persons interested in the estate of MYRNA H. WRIGHT, ESTATE NO. 18129. Notice is given that BEVERLY S. WRIGHT, 215 TILDEN WAY, EDGEWATER, MD 21037, was on ,JANUARY 14, 2020 appointed Personal Representative of the estate of MYRNA H. WRIGHT, who died on JANUARY 5, 2020, with a will.

Further information can be obtained by reviewing the estate file in the office of the Register of Wills or by contacting the personal representative or the attorney.

All persons having any objection to the appointment (or to the probate of the decedent’s will) shall file their objections with the Register of Wills on or before the 14TH day of JULY, 2020.

ETHEL STURGIS

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 17, 2020 JAY L. GOOD Personal Representative True Test Copy CHARLOTTE K. CATHELL

Any person having a claim against the decedent must present the claim to the undersigned personal representative or file it with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned on or before the earlier of the following dates: (1) Six months from the date of the decedent's death, except if the decedent died before October 1, 1992, nine months from the date of the decedent's death; or (2) Two months after the personal representative mails or otherwise delivers to the creditor a copy of this published notice or other written notice, notifying the creditor that the claim will be barred unless the creditor presents the claims within two months from the mailing or other delivery of the notice. A claim not presented or filed on or before tha date, or any extension provided by law, is unenforceable thereafter. Claim forms may be obtained from the Register of Wills.

NOTICE (ADULT) (DOM REL 61) The above petitioner has field a petition for Change of Name in which he seeks to change his name from ETHEL STURGIS PIERCE to ETHEL STURGIS. The petitioner is seeking this name change for the following reasons: NEVER CHANGED NAME AFTER DIVORCE. Any person may file an objection to the Petition on or before the 11th day of FEBRUARY 2020. The objection must be supported by an affidavit and served upon the Petitioner in accordance with Maryland Rule 1-321.

Failure to file an objection or affidavit within the time allowed may result in a judgment by default or the granting of the relief sought.

A copy of this notice shall be published one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least fifteen (15) days before the deadline to fine an objection.

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 24, 2020 SUSAN R. BRANIECKI Clerk of the Circuit Court for Worcester County Room 104 - Court House One W. Market Street Snow Hill, MD 21863-1074 1x 1-24

FIRST INSERTION IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR WORCESTER COUNTY, MD C-23-CV-19-000382 SHOREAL ESTATE HOLDINGS, LLC C/O KENNY LAW GROUP, LLC 11426 YORK ROAD, 1ST FLOOR

COCKEYSVILLE, MARYLAND 21030 Plaintiff vs.

HAROLD H THOMAS REVOCABLE TRUST D. 5/2/2001 SERVE: THOMAS H HAROLD, TRUSTEE AND STONE HARBOUR VILLAS CONDOMINIUM COUNCIL OF UNIT OWNERS SERVE: PRESIDENT AND (All persons having or claiming to have an interest in the property situate and lying in Worcester County and known as:) 13266 STONE HARBOUR LN, 3307 OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842 AND WORCESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND SERVE ON: MAUREEN L. HOWARTH, COUNTY ATTORNEY AND UNKNOWN OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY: 13266 STONE HARBOUR LN, 3307 OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842 The unknown owner's heirs, devisees, and Personal Representatives and their or any of their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators, grantees, assigns, or successors in right, title and interest.

Defendants ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this proceeding is to secure the foreclosure of all rights of redemption in the following property described below in the State of Maryland, sold by the Collector of Taxes for Worcester County and the State of Maryland to the Plaintiff in this proceeding: List No. 37, Parcel No, 10384435, Property Description: UNIT 33 PH 7, JEFFERSON AVE, STONE HARBOUR VILLAS CM, Assessed to HAROLD H THOMAS, REVOCABLE TRUST and THOMAS H HAROLD, TRUSTEE, also known as 13266 STONE HARBOUR LN, 3307, OCEAN CITY, Maryland 21842, on the Tax Roll of the Director of Finance.

The Complaint states, among other things, that the amounts necessary for redemption have not been paid although more than six (6) months and a day from the date of sale has expired.

It is thereupon this 21st of January, 2020 by the Circuit Court for WORCESTER County: ORDERED, That notice be given by the insertion of a copy of this Order in some newspaper having a general circulation in Worcester County once a week for three (3) successive weeks on or before the 21st day of February , 2020 warning all persons interested in the

Page 39 property to appear in this Court by the 26th day of March, 2020 and redeem the property described above and answer the Complaint or thereafter a Final Judgment will be entered foreclosing all rights of redemption in the property, and vesting in the Plaintiff a title, free and clear of all encumbrances.

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 24, 2020 BRIAN D. SHOCKLEY JUDGE SUSAN R. BRANIECKI Clerk of the Circuit Court Worcester County, MD TRUE TEST COPY 3x 1-24, 1-31, 2-07

FIRST INSERTION

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR WORCESTER COUNTY, MD C-23-CV-19-000381 SHOREAL ESTATE HOLDINGS, LLC C/O KENNY LAW GROUP, LLC 11426 YORK ROAD, 1ST FLOOR COCKEYSVILLE, MARYLAND 21030 Plaintiff vs.

WILLIAM W. WRIGHT, MANAGING MEMBER OF SW CONDOMINIUM LLC, A MD FORFEITED LLC AND ELIZABETH ZAJIC, TRUSTEE AND WELLS FARGO BANK, NA F/K/A WACHOVIA BANK, NA AND (All persons having or claiming to have an interest in the property situate and lying in Worcester County and known as:) 11500 COASTAL HWY #607 OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842 AND WORCESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND SERVE ON: MAUREEN L. HOWARTH, COUNTY ATTORNEY AND UNKNOWN OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY: 11500 COASTAL HWY #607 OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842 The unknown owner's heirs, devisees, and Personal Representatives and their or any of their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators,grantees, assigns, or successors in right, title and interest.

Defendants ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this proceeding is to secure the foreclosure of all rights of redemption in the following property described below in the State of Maryland, sold by the Collector of Taxes for Worcester County and the State of Maryland to the Plaintiff in this proceeding:

List No. 90, Parcel No. 10143667, Property Description: U 607 BEACH HWY, SEA WATCH CM, Assessed to SW CONDOMINIUM LLC, also known as 11500 COASTAL HWY #607, OCEAN CITY, Maryland 21842, on the Tax Roll of the Director of Finance.

The Complaint states, among other things, that the amounts necessary for redemption have not been paid although more than six (6) months and a day from the date of sale has expired.

It is thereupon this by the Circuit Court for WORCESTER County: ORDERED, That notice be given by the insertion of a copy of this Order in some newspaper having a general circulation in Worcester County once a week for three (3) successive weeks on or before the 21s t day of February, 2020, warning all persons interested in the property to appear in this Court by the 26th day of March , 20 20 and redeem the property described above and answer the Complaint or thereafter a Final Judgment will be entered foreclosing all rights of redemption in the property, and vesting in the Plaintiff a title, free and clear of all encumbrances.

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 24, 2020 BRIAN D. SHOCKLEY JUDGE SUSAN R. BRANIECKI Clerk of the Circuit Court Worcester County, MD TRUE TEST COPY 3x 1-24, 1-31, 2-07

FIRST INSERTION IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR WORCESTER COUNTY, MD C-23-CV-19-000380 SHOREAL ESTATE HOLDINGS, LLC C/O KENNY LAW GROUP, LLC 11426 YORK ROAD, 1ST FLOOR COCKEYSVILLE, MARYLAND 21030 Plaintiff vs.

DAVID CARABELLI AND SIESTA VILLAS CONDOMINIUM COUNCIL OF UNIT OWNERS AND (All persons having or claiming to have an interest in the property situate and lying in Worcester County and known as:) 5104 COASTAL HWY, 101N OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842 AND WORCESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND SERVE ON: MAUREEN L. HOWARTH, COUNTY ATTORNEY AND UNKNOWN OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY: 5104 COASTAL HWY, 101N

The Dispatch

Page 40

Legal Notices

LEGAL RATES Legal advertising rate is $7 per column inch. Deadline for all legal advertising is Tuesday at noon. For more information, call 410-641-4563 or fax 410-641-0966.

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842 The unknown owner's heirs, devisees, and Pei·sonal Representatives and their or any of their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators, grantees, assigns, or successors in right, title and interest.

Defendants

FOR WORCESTER COUNTY, MD C-23-CV-19-000379

ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this proceeding is to secure the foreclosure of all rights of redemption in the following property described below in the State of Maryland, sold by the Collector of Taxes for Worcester County and the State of Maryland to the Plaintiff in this proceeding: List No. 17, Parcel No. 10289858, Property Description: U 101 N BTW 51st & 52ND STS SIESTA VILLAS CM, Assessed to DAVID CARABELLI, also known as 5104 COASTAL HWY, 101N, OCEAN CITY, Maryland 21842, on the Tax Roll of the Director of Finance.

The Complaint states, among other things, that the amounts necessary for redemption have not been paid although more than six (6) months and a day from the date of sale has expired.

It is thereupon this 17TH OF JANUARY, 2020, by the Circuit Court for WORCESTER County: ORDERED, That notice be given by the insertion of a copy of this Order in some newspaper having a general circulation in Worcester County once a week for three (3) successive weeks on or before the 21ST day of February, 2020, warning all persons interested in the property to appear in this Court by the 26th day of March, 2020 and redeem the property described above and answer the Complaint or thereafter a Final Judgment will be entered foreclosing all rights of redemption in the property, and vesting in the Plaintiff a title, free and clear of all encumbrances.

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 24, 2020

Plaintiff vs.

JUNE F STIELPER AND PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION F/K/A BANK OF DELAWARE

BRIAN D. SHOCKLEY JUDGE SUSAN R. BRANIECKI Clerk of the Circuit Court Worcester County, MD TRUE TEST COPY 3x 1-24, 1-31, 2-07

FIRST INSERTION IN THE CIRCUIT COURT

SHOREAL ESTATE HOLDINGS, LLC C/O KENNY LAW GROUP, LLC 11426 YORK ROAD, 1ST FLOOR COCKEYSVILLE, MARYLAND 21030

SERVE: CSC-LAWYERS IN CORPORATING SERVICE COMPANY RESIDENT AGENT AND MONTEGO BAY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. SERVE: JAMES W. ALMOND, ESQ., RESIDENT AGENT AND (All persons having or claiming to have an interest in the property situate and lying in Worcester County and known as:) 503 NAUTICAL LN OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842 AND WORCESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND SERVE ON: MAUREEN L. HOWARTH, COUNTY ATTORNEY AND UNKNOWN OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY: 503 NAUTICAL LN OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842 The unknown owner's heirs, devisees, and Pei·sonal Representatives and their or any of their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators, grantees, assigns, or successors in right, title and interest.

Defendants ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this proceeding is to, secure the foreclosure of all rights of redemption in the following property described below in the State of Maryland, sold by the Collector of Taxes for Worcester County and the State of Maryland to the Plaintiff in this proceeding: List No. 88, Parcel No. 10194555, Property Description: LOT 213 SEC 6A NAUTICAL LANE PL, MONTEGO BAY MOB HM PK, Assessed to JUNE F. STIELPER and FRANCIS G. STIELPER, also known as 503 NAUTICAL LN, OCEAN CITY, Maryland 21842, on the Tax Roll

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch of the Director of Finance.

The Complaint states, among other things, that the amounts necessary for redemption have not been paid although more than six (6) months and a day from the date of sale has expired.

It is thereupon this 21ST OF JANUARY, 2020, by the Circuit Court for WORCESTER County: ORDERED, That notice be given by the insertion of a copy of this Order in some newspaper having a general circulation in Worcester County once a week for three (3) successive weeks on or before the 21ST day of February, 2020, warning all persons interested in the property to appear in this Court by the 26th day of March, 2020 and redeem the property described above and answer the Complaint or thereafter a Final Judgment will be entered foreclosing all rights of redemption in the property, and vesting in the Plaintiff a title, free and clear of all encumbrances.

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 24, 2020 BRIAN D. SHOCKLEY JUDGE SUSAN R. BRANIECKI Clerk of the Circuit Court Worcester County, MD TRUE TEST COPY 3x 1-24, 1-31, 2-07

FIRST INSERTION IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR WORCESTER COUNTY, MD C-23-CV-19-000378 SHOREAL ESTATE HOLDINGS, LLC C/O KENNY LAW GROUP, LLC 11426 YORK ROAD, 1ST FLOOR COCKEYSVILLE, MARYLAND 21030 Plaintiff vs.

LORA N COHILL TRUST SERVE: DONALD E COHILL, TRUSTEE 3206 MORNING GLORY COURT APT 108 PALM BEACH GARDENS FL 33410 SERVE: DONALD E COHILL, TRUSTEE 6 MOBY DICK DR OCEAN PINES, MD 21811 SERVE: KATHLEEN C. SMITH, TRUSTEE 3206 MORNING GLORY COURT, APT 108 PALM BEACH GARDENS FL 33410 SERVE: KATHLEEN C. SMITH, TRUSTEE 6 MOBY DICK DR OCEAN PINES, MD 21811 AND OCEAN PINES

ASSOCIATION, INC. (All persons having or claiming to have an interest in the property situate and lying in Worcester County and known as:) 6 MOBY DICK DR OCEAN PINES, MARYLAND 21811 AND WORCESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND SERVE ON: MAUREEN L. HOWARTH, COUNTY ATTORNEY ONE WEST MARKET STREET, ROOM 1103 SNOW HILL, MD 21863 AND UNKNOWN OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY: 6 MOBY DICK DR OCEAN PINES, MARYLAND 21811 The unknown owner's heirs, devisees, and Pei·sonal Representatives and their or any of their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators, grantees, assigns, or successors in right, title and interest.

Defendants ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this proceeding is to ,secure the foreclosure of all rights of redemption in the following property described below in the State of Maryland, sold by the Collector of Taxes for Worcester County and the State of Maryland to the Plaintiff in this proceeding: List No. 46, Parcel No. 03046079, Property Description: LOT B-06-566 12664 SQ FT, MOBY DICK DR PL OCEAN PINES, SEC 6, Assessed to LORA N COHILL TRUST, also known as 6 MOBY DICK DR, OCEAN PINES, Maryland 21811, on the Tax Roll of the Director of Finance.

The Complaint states, among other things, that the amounts necessary for redemption have not been paid although more than six (6) months and a day from the date of sale has expired.

It is thereupon this 21ST OF JANUARY, 2020, by the Circuit Court for WORCESTER County: ORDERED, That notice be given by the insertion of a copy of this Order in some newspaper having a general circulation in Worcester County once a week for three (3) successive weeks on or before the 21ST day of February, 2020, warning all persons interested in the property to appear in this Court by the 26th day of March, 2020 and redeem the property described above and answer the Complaint or thereafter a Final Judgment will be entered foreclosing all rights of redemption in the property, and vesting in the Plaintiff a title, free and clear of all encumbrances.

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 24, 2020

January 24, 2020 BRIAN D. SHOCKLEY JUDGE SUSAN R. BRANIECKI Clerk of the Circuit Court Worcester County, MD TRUE TEST COPY 3x 1-24, 1-31, 2-07

FIRST INSERTION IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR WORCESTER COUNTY, MD C-23-CV-19-000377 SHOREAL ESTATE HOLDINGS, LLC C/O KENNY LAW GROUP, LLC 11426 YORK ROAD, 1ST FLOOR COCKEYSVILLE, MARYLAND 21030 Plaintiff vs.

KAREN M RIDGE AND ISLAMORADA CONDOMINIUM SERVE: JAMES W. ALMAND, ESQ. AND (All persons having or claiming to have an interest in the property situate and lying in Worcester County and known as:) 402 144TH ST, 203 OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842 AND WORCESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND SERVE ON: MAUREEN L. HOWARTH, COUNTY ATTORNEY AND UNKNOWN OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY: 402 144TH ST, 203 OCEAN CITY, MARY1AND 21842 The unknown owner's heirs, devisees, and Personal Representatives and their or any of their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators, grantees, assigns, or successors in right, title and interest.

Defendants ORDER OF PUBLICATION The object of this proceeding is to, secure the foreclosure of all rights of redemption in the following property described below in the State of Maryland, sold by the Collector of Taxes for Worcester County and the State of Maryland to the Plaintiff in this proceeding: List No. 66, Parcel No. 10302528, Property Description: U 203 144TH ST, ISLAMORADA CM, Assessed to KAREN M RIDGE and JOHN A RIDGE, also known as 402 144TH ST, 203, OCEAN CITY, Maryland 21842, on the Tax Roll of the Director of Finance.

The Complaint states, among other things, that the amounts necessary for redemption have not been paid although more than six (6) months and a day from the date of sale has expired.

It is thereupon this 21ST DAY OF JANUARY, 2020, by the Circuit Court for WORCESTER County: ORDERED, That notice be given by the insertion of a copy of this Order in some newspaper having a general circulation in Worcester County once a week for three (3) successive weeks on or before the 21ST day of February, 2020, warning all persons interested in the property to appear in this Court by the 26th day of March, 2020 and redeem the property described above and answer the Complaint or thereafter a Final Judgment will be entered foreclosing all rights of redemption in the property, and vesting in the Plaintiff a title, free and clear of all encumbrances.

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 24, 2020 BRIAN D. SHOCKLEY JUDGE SUSAN R. BRANIECKI Clerk of the Circuit Court Worcester County, MD TRUE TEST COPY 3x 1-24, 1-31, 2-07

NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING FEBRUARY 10, 2020, 7:00 PM MAYOR AND COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 10 WILLIAM STREET, BERLIN, MD Pursuant to Article Ill, "District Changes and other Amendments", Section 108-214, and Section 108-215 of the Berlin Town Code, the Berlin Mayor and Council will hold a Public Hearing during its regularly scheduled meeting to consider a recommendation for annexation passed by unanimous motion of the Berlin Planning Commission during its December 11, 2019 meeting.

The parcels proposed for annexation are located on the south side of U.S. Route 50, and east of Sea hawk Road, contiguous toe the Berlin Corporate limits, and further identified as Worcester County Tax Map No. 25, parcel 430owned by Two Farms, Inc. and parcel 408 owned by the Michael Myers Revocable Trust.

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication JANUARY 24, 2020 2x 1-24, 1-31

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Horoscopes

January 24, 2020

ARIES (March 21 to April 19): Mixed signals could create problems.

Make sure your views are presented clearly, and insist others do the same.

Don't let an unanswered question go by without a full explanation.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20): Financial pressures ease, allowing for more budget flexibility. But as the money-wise Bovine will appreciate, thrift still beats out splurging. Expect news from someone special.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20): Getting things done is what you do so well.

But be careful not to overtax your energy reserves. Take time out to relax or to do something different to help keep them at optimum levels.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22): This is a good time to satisfy the Moon Child's growing sense of wanderlust.

Choose a really special place to go to, with a very special person to share it all with you.

LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22): You love being in the spotlight. But be careful it doesn't blind you to the truth behind a seemingly wonderful opportunity. Look closer and you might be sadly surprised at what you find.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22): Isn't it time to take a break from your hectic schedule? Sure it is. And the sooner you do, the sooner you can return fresh and more than ready to take on all those new projects.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22): A recent family incident can help bring everyone closer, and there's no one who's better at making that happen than you. Accept (indeed, insist on!) help from others to get things off and running.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21): Long-held habits are often difficult to break. But the change from how you always did things to how you can do them now can be liberating. So, be flexible and give it a try.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21): Someone you met in your professional world last year and thought you would never hear from again could make a sudden reappearance in your life, along with an interesting offer.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19): Once again, you delight everyone by coming up with a solution for a problem that actually works. On another note, it's not too early to get started on those travel plans.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18): Before you go ahead with finalizing your plans for your new project, check them over to see if you can make some improvements or if you can find ways to cut costs.

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20): The Fabulous Fish might have been out of the social swim for too long, and it's time you plunge back in. Reinforce your old friendships and be open to starting new ones.

BORN THIS WEEK: Your creative talents help bring beauty to the world and the people in it. On their behalf, thank you. Š 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Page 41

Page 42

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Support For Wind Farm Editor: I love walking down the Boardwalk in Ocean City and admiring the hive of activity during the busy beach season.

Seeing folks from all walks of life enjoying our Eastern Shore of life brings joy to my heart.

One way to continue supporting Ocean City tourism is to bring new jobs to the Lower Shore. Offshore wind developers are required to open two new operations and maintenance facilities in the Ocean City area, which means more jobs, more worker income, more local tax revenue and more commerce for Ocean City businesses.

But as Mayor Meehan wails against the offshore wind developers over the height of their proposed turbines, he is doing a disservice to the residents of Ocean City. As Las Vegas, the tourism capital of the world can attest, a recession can be a downright disaster for an area that relies so heavily on tourism.

Las Vegas saw almost three million less visitors between 2007-2009 during the Great Recession. Residents lost homes, businesses were shattered and families were decimated. Offshore wind will provide Lower Shore residents more job stability when the state and national economy inevitably cool off.

Ocean City has spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars hiring hotshot attorneys and lobbyists to derail an industry that economists say will support an estimated 25,000 jobs in Maryland with more than $1.5 billion in worker and business income over the next twenty years.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Imagine if that money had been spent making safety improvements for bikes and pedestrians on Coastal Highway or combating the H20i car festival that frustrates residents and visitors each year.

Concerns about offshore wind and tourism are not supported by facts.

Block Island in Rhode Island presents a lesson for Ocean City. The tourism-dependent island is home to the nation’s first offshore wind farm, and like Ocean City, some were concerned about the effect on tourism. Not only was tourism not impacted, it actually increased. The University of Rhode Island examined AirBnB data and found that occupancy rates increased 19 percent and added an extra $349 in revenue for owners.

Block Island is proving that tourism and offshore wind can co-exist. Perhaps the mayor can use some of the money he is spending on lobbyists to visit Block Island and see the positive impacts for himself.

Economic opportunities like this come around once in a lifetime. We have an opportunity to help build a new American industry that will benefit Ocean City and the entire region. Our elected officials should stop, examine the situation and ask themselves if they want to go on the record as being against job creation for their own constituents. I certainly hope they think twice for the sake of our economy.

Jared Schablein

Pittsville (The writer is the chair of the Lower Shore Progressive Caucus.)

Misleading Emotions Serve No Purpose In Wind Debate Editor: (The following letter was addressed to the Maryland Public Service Commission.)

We had the opportunity to observe over three hours of the public hearing on Jan. 18, 2020. Because of other commitments, we could not stay and testify. The number of participants, including students, was impressive, as was the passion.

My spouse and I are property and business owners in Ocean City, committed to renewable energy. We are not "from here’s," but "come here’s," like so many residents. We are employers, members of community organizations and board members of charities.

Why is that fact important? Because we chose to live here. The same with most property owners on the OC island. They are either second homes, retirement homes or a combination of investment/vacation properties. The people who own real estate in Ocean City made a choice about where to own, where to vacation and where to invest. If the PSC makes decisions that devalue these homes and investments, if the PSC makes decisions that devalue national treasures like Assateague and the OC beach,

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January 24, 2020 those "come here’s" and their tax and room tax revenues and their discretionary spending will go elsewhere.

That is an economic reality. Many of the properties the PSC may be impacting are owned by families who have options.

The Delaware testimony was incredible. However these windmills are constructed, there is no agreement about where this power is to come on shore in Maryland or Delaware. The wind energy has to be transferred from federal land (ocean) to state and local land. Delaware and Maryland have not agreed to permit a transfer station. Not only have the lessees requested to dramatically increase the size of the windmills, they do so without a contract or permit for a transfer station.

The PSC allowed two companies with signed leases and their contractors and stakeholders to portray opponents of the new windmill proposal as anti-green and anti-environment. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a false narrative. Ocean City residents support renewable energy. OC has always supported wind energy. OC supports green jobs. What they do not support is a project that doubles-triples the size of the windmills without studying the economic impact of such a material change. Just a 10% reduction in property values, rental incomes, tourist and discretionary spending would be devastating to the town, the county and the state. Commissioner Joe Mitrecic did an outstanding job explaining these economics.

The PSC has created this situation. The chairman acknowledged that the proposed changes are material. The county attorney clearly articulated that based on this material change, the PSC has no choice but to reopen the process for further study.

But instead of simply opening up the process and obtaining independent research, the PSC permitted emotion to take over, making it an "us versus them situation."

All parties point to studies, none of which are exactly "apples to apples."

European windmills are not located next to Big Ben or the Lourve and Deep Creek's windmills were not built in the lake. But objective resources are readily available. BEACON at Salisbury University, economist Anirban Basu and numerous other experts can evaluate job creation, carbon footprint, property values and tourist dollars. And then we can pursue windmills that leverage current technology, create green jobs and protect property values and tourist dollars.

That is exactly what Ocean City supported with the current leases for the 2-4 MW windmills.

False narratives and misleading emotional pleas need to stop. What the PSC needs to do is open up the process to facts and objective research and fashion revised leases and compromises which create the most efficient renewable energy and jobs, while protecting the property values and tourist revenues.

James and Kimberly List Ocean City

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch

Forever In Memory Of Our Founder, Dick Lohmeyer (May 25, 1927-May 5, 2005) The Dispatch, Serving Greater Ocean City Since 1984, Is Published By Maryland Coast Dispatch Inc. Weekly On Friday Mornings MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 467, Berlin, Md. 21811 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 10012 Old Ocean City Blvd.

Berlin, Md. 21811 PHONE: 410-641-4561 FAX: 410-641-0966 WEBSITES: www.mdcoastdispatch.com www.facebook.com/thedispatchoc J. STEVEN GREEN Publisher/Editor editor@mdcoastdispatch.com

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POSTMASTER: Please send change of address to Maryland Coast Dispatch, P.O. Box 467, Berlin, Maryland 21811. Maryland Coast Dispatch offices are located at Route 346 and Graham Avenue, Berlin, Maryland.

Between The Lines

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

HOW WE SEE IT

More Scrutiny A Must For Turbines

Over the course of five hours, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) should have heard enough concerns to warrant further examination of the proposed offshore wind turbines, especially their significant changes in height.

The concept behind last week’s public hearing was to hear from the concerned citizens and government officials who requested a public hearing to relay concerns over the significant increase in wind turbine heights with both offshore project developers.

After holding the hearing, which attracted about 800 people in Ocean City last Saturday, the PSC must now determine if an evidentiary hearing, a more formal proceeding, should be held for further review of the change in wind turbine height.

It’s important to note the PSC is a regulatory body and its discretion is limited. The PSC was, however, the body that granted the pivotal renewable credits to the two developers – Orsted and U.S. Wind. Even if an evidentiary hearing is granted before the PSC, it would be foolish to believe the projects are in jeopardy.

We believe these wind farm projects can be beneficial from economic and environmental standpoints, but we question the transparency and merits of the process at the federal and state levels. We support the call for more information on the specifics of the turbine heights before the projects can move into the next phases.

What we don’t necessarily agree with is the Town of Ocean City’s demand the turbines be a certain mileage from shore. We disagree with the assumption beach-goers and oceanfront property owners will be disgruntled if they can see the turbines from the shore. We also believe there is some misleading being done by Ocean City with unrealistic computer renderings portraying the wind turbines off the coast.

It’s frankly an unknown whether a majority of tourists, property owners and prospective buyers will be turned off if their sunrise from the beach includes some spinning thumbnail or slightly bigger wind turbines. It’s really a guess at this point how visible they will be from the beach. It’s clear each day will be different, and most days they will not be noticeable, due to clouds on the horizon, winds and hazy conditions in the summer.

What’s clear at this point is the projects have been altered in the middle of the process and after approvals.

Therefore, we see enough reason to get more information from the developers before proceeding.

Page 43

By Publisher/Editor Steve Green

Throughout the week, members of Stephen Decatur High School’s Class of 1996 have expressed shock and sadness over the loss of a fellow graduate, Billy Smith.

It’s been one week since the 41-year-old Smith, a husband and father of three, was killed in his Greenbelt home by three masked home invaders who escaped from the scene. His eldest son was home at the time and witnessed his dad fighting off the three men. By the time he got into the living room, Kadin Smith told WUSA9, "I just went in the living room, and I see that my dad is trying to fight them off him. But, it already looked like he had been stabbed. I knew he wasn’t going to make it. His last words to me when I was with him, he was trying to grab me and say, 'I love you,' but he just couldn’t get it out."

Smith’s impact on the Greenbelt community was considerable, according to multiple news accounts. Most of his contributions reportedly came through serving as a youth coach at the Greenbelt Recreation Center, among other places. Smith’s mom, Terri, was a longtime educator in the Worcester County school system, serving decades at Buckingham Elementary School. In an interview televised on WUSA9, she showed remarkable grace following a community gathering in her son’s honor last Sunday.

“I am so proud of my son,” she said. “I hurt but you know what there’s joy. The healing process started when I walked through that door and I saw so many people that love and care about my son. That’s going to help a lot. The pictures that they took and the things that said, I already knew it, but they confirmed it all by just being here.”

In less than a week since his death, the community in Greenbelt as well as here partnered to raise more than $27,000 through a GoFundMe to keep the Smith family on its feet during this horrific time.

It’s sad in 2020 for many residents and businesses to struggle with reliable internet access. Unfortunately, that is the daily reality for many people in Worcester County. The graphic accompanying this week’s story shows about 70 percent of Worcester County not being served by adequate service. In these areas, there may be internet and cellular service, but it’s unreliable and limited.

In reporting on the results of a broadband feasibility study, CTC Technology & Energy President Joanne Hovis told the County Commissioners this week, “You won’t be surprised to see the areas that currently have broadband service in the county are your areas of population density and your major roads… Those red areas are currently unserved with broadband that meets the federal definition. There may be some internet service there but it’s not fast enough to be called broadband under the federal definition.”

CTC estimated there are at least 6,400 homes without the proper broadband infrastructure. Taking into account there were 21,672 households in the county, according to most recent Census estimates, approximately 30% of the homes in the county are not served by reliable internet service. This is shameful in this day.

An argument could be made the county has been way too slow on addressing this reality for its residents. The shortcomings in the rural area have been discussed for more than 15 years, but next to nothing has been done by the county on a steady basis. Commissioner Virgil Shockley admirably spearheaded the efforts for many years and served on a regional body charged with tackling the problem. In recent years, Commissioner Ted Elder has continuously addressed the need for change on this front as well.

However, the federal government deserves blame by providing dollars to a company that does not appear to be making headway in the effort.

The federal funding appears to have come without any concern for checks and balances to see if the chosen provider is making progress.

CTC recommended the county seek data and reports from the company immediately to determine what plan is in place to improve performance.

The problem is that will likely cost the county additional dollars. As a result, the county remains in a holding pattern. It’s a sad situation with no easy solution, but it’s worth the efforts.

There seems to be a convenience store race in Berlin.

Though no official plans have been presented, it has been mentioned by the developer of land at North Main Street and Route 50 a 7-Eleven is in the works. It was also reported this week by an attorney representing the owner of the land at the corner of Route 50 and Old Ocean City Boulevard a convenience store will be part of a new commercial development in the future.

Attorney Joe Moore pointed out the obvious this week before the County Commissioners while seeking a rezoning of the 18-acre parcel at the town’s western “gateway” from agriculture to commercial. “The population growth of Berlin shows that there is significant increase in need for commercial area for the use of Berlin,” Moore said. “… Berlin since the 2000 Census has grown 48% in its population. As you all know, downtown Berlin — in its historic district and its commercial downtown area — is as we say full. Main Street cannot accommodate any additional uses.”

Page 44

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Business

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

January 24, 2020

And Real Estate News

Members and staff from the Coastal Association of REALTORS® (Coastal) traveled to Annapolis on Jan. 14 to participate in the Maryland REALTORS® 2020 Lobby Day. This annual event is an opportunity for REALTOR® and affiliate members to meet with their individual state senators and delegates to discuss real estate and homeowner issues.

Submitted Photo

Monthy Market Recap

AGH Leadership Change

BERLIN – The Lower Eastern Shore saw a boost in home sales in December, according to the latest numbers from the Coastal Association of REALTORS® (Coastal).

In all three counties throughout December, new settlements were up 27.2 percent compared to the same time last year and Year to Date (YTD) settlements were up two percent. Individually, new settlements throughout December were up by 29.3 percent in Worcester, by 5.5 percent in Wicomico, and by 237.5 percent in Somerset. YTD settlements were up by five percent in Worcester and by 16 percent in Somerset, but were down 5.4 percent in Wicomico.

Inventory remained down in December, as the tri-county area as a whole saw a 28.7-percent decrease in active listings and a 1.3-percent decrease in new listings compared to the same time last year. Individually, active listings were down by 24.9 percent in Worcester, by 35 percent in Wicomico, and by 37 percent in Somerset. New listings were down by 11 percent in Wicomico and by 45.5 percent in Somerset, but were up by 13.1 percent in Worcester.

The average list price for the shore was $212,161, which is 2.5 percent higher than this time last year. The average sale price was $204,763, which is 5.5 percent higher than this time last year.

The average Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) for November was 136, or 12.4 percent higher than the same time last year. Individually, CDOM decreased by eight percent in Worcester, and increased by 2.3 percent and 52 percent in Wicomico and Somerset, respectively.

“Despite the continued decline in available inventory, our settlement numbers still increased last month, which is great,” said Coastal President Joe Wilson. “It is likely that last month’s mild weather and continued low mortgage rates really worked in our favor.”

BERLIN – Atlantic General Hospital officials have announced Dr. Matthew Morris has joined the organization’s senior leadership to serve as vice president of patient care services/chief nursing officer. Morris succeeds Colleen Wareing, who has served in this role for the past 15 years.

Morris has been a registered nurse for more than 20 years, earning his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) and a Master of Science in Health Services Leadership and Management from UMB, before completing a Doctor of NursDR. MATTHEW ing Practice degree at MORRIS the University of Alabama. He is also a board-certified nurse executive through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

He has worked in progressive nursing leadership roles in several hospitals in the Baltimore area, most recently serving as the director of nursing for the Surgery and the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation units for The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

“Colleen Wareing has made an indelible mark on the fabric of the culture at AGH and she has shaped the stellar nursing practices that are in place here today,” said AGH CEO/President Michael Franklin. “We are sad to see her go and her retirement from Atlantic General is bittersweet, but we are fortunate to have gained another great leader in Matt Morris. I look forward to working with him.”

Morris began his duties at Atlantic General on Jan. 6.

Foundation Adds Officer SALISBURY – Veronique Diriker has joined the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore as Chief Strategy Officer. Diriker will lead the foundation’s strategic planning and impleSEE NEXT PAGE

... Business News

January 24, 2020

mentation with a focus on its continued growth, impact, and effectiveness.

“The Community Foundation has a longstanding history of leadership and expertise in philanthropy, and we ensure this on the ground level by developing a team that is cutting-edge in their re-spective fields” says Erica Joseph, CFES President. Diriker’s professional experience includes nonprofit management & leadership, university development, nonprofit fundraising, VERONIQUE DIRIKER public policy analysis and consulting, event planning, program development, higher education teaching, outcomes assessment & program evaluation, and community outreach.

“It is an honor to join an organization that has made such a profound impact on the Lower Shore, its residents, and its non-profit sector,” says Diriker.

“I look forward to working closely with our highly competent staff, engaged volunteers, and dedicated partners, so that we can continue to strengthen our community.”

Agents To Receive Awards BERLIN – Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty’s Ocean Pines office announced several team members will receive awards for their accomplishments in 2019 at a company awards ceremony in March.

Buy-Sells Critical For Businesses

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch Named to the Chairman's Circle Gold-Top 2% in the franchise with over $280,000 total GCI or 70 units were The O'Hare Team, Cindy Poremski and Marlene Ott. Awarded for President's Circle-Top 5% in the franchise with over $185,000 total GCI or 50 units were Sandy Dougan and Debbie Bennington.

Joining the Leading Edge SocietyTop 8% in the franchise with over $120,000 total GCI or 35 units were Claudia Gausepohl, Spike Sands, Mickey Lobb, Hoffy Hoffman, Sandy Galloway and Cheri Chenoweth.

Named to the Honor Society-Top 14% in the franchise with over $75,000 total GCI or 25 units were Sally Stout, Beth Miller, John Talbott and Bob Poremski.

Salisbury Property Sold SALISBURY – Advisor Christian Phillips recently co-brokered the sale of 1223 North Salisbury Boulevard, a 17,000-square-foot building on Route 13 northbound. A large portion of the building fronting the highway will be occupied by Season’s Best Antiques of Salisbury.

“This sale is another great example of what happens when local brokerages work together in the best interest of our clients and community,” said Phillips. “NAI Coastal, SVN Miller and Keller Williams all brought unique knowledge and expertise to the table and because of that, we were able to effectively produce the results that the community has come to expect.”

Wealth Of Knowledge

BY JOHN BARRETT

SPECIAL TO THE DISPATCH

BERLIN – What will happen to your business if you or a business partner dies or becomes disabled? What will happen to your family if you are no long-er able to work in your business due to a disability or premature death – will they still be able to benefit from cash flow from your business?

Many businesses are not prepared to survive following one of these potential events. Many families are not adequately protected. A business succession strategy using a properly structured buy-sell agreement can help you protect your family and the business.

There are different types of buy-sell agreements; which type is right for you will depend on how your company is set up, how many owners there are, and what your cash flow may be. Three of the most common types of buy-sell agreements are entity buy outs, cross purchase buy outs or the wait and see option. In an entity buy out, the business purchases the business interest from the selling owner. Using JOHN BARRETT a cross purchase buy out, the co-owners purchase the business interest from the selling owner. Finally, using

Page 45

the wait and see option combines both previous options. The first is for the business to purchase the business interest. If the business does not or cannot make the purchase, the co-owners will then have the option to purchase.

There are many benefits to having a buy-sell agreement in place. These agreements may provide liquidity for your family; allow those who are interested in continuing your business to do so without interference; set the purchase price and terms of payment in advance; specify how the transfer will be funded; establish the value of your business for federal tax purposes; or provide greater security for retirement or unplanned death.

Each type of plan has its own unique features and benefits. Does it sound complicated? Don’t worry – it’s really not. An effective licensed professional should assume the role to understand your goals and objectives and work with you to design a plan that is right for you, including the appropriate funding options. One thing is certain – you do not want to leave the future of your business to chance. Buy-sell planning allows you to plan today for your business to survive in the event of a triggering event such as death, disability or retirement.

(The writer is an insurance advisor with Key Financial Services. He and his team can be reached at 410-629-0357.)

Page 46

Sports

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Seahawks Finish Second At War On Shore

January 24, 2020

In The News

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

BERLIN – Stephen Decatur’s varsity wrestling team turned in a strong performance in its own War on the Shore tournament last weekend, finishing second overall just behind three-time defending champion Mount Saint Joseph’s.

Overall, the Seahawks placed in nine of the 14 weight divisions including four second-place finishes, a thirdplace finish, two fourths, a fifth and a sixth. Mount Saint Joseph’s repeated as champions in one of the top prep wrestling tournaments in the state with 215 total team points, while Decatur was second with 190.5 points and Southern was third with 173.

At 120, Jagger Clapsadle, beat Evan Broomwall of Sussex Central in the first round and Alan Bolden of St. George’s Tech in the second round.

Clapsadle then beat Jacob Wright of Mount St. Joseph’s in the quarterfinals and Jack Thode of Milford in the semifinals to reach the championship in his class before falling to Woodbridge’s

Samuel Congleton in the title bout.

At 132, Nico D’Amico earned a firstround bye and beat Malik Lavalais of Coatesville in the second round to advance. D’Amico beat Kent Island’s Jack Mulligan in the quarterfinals and Blake Jury of St. Mary’s Ryken in the semifinals before falling to Nathan Porter of Mount St. Joseph’s in the championship.

At 170, D.J. Taylor earned a firstround bye and beat Matthew Hermely of Upper Darby in the second round.

Taylor then beat Roberto Gabellini of Lake Braddock in the quarterfinals and Kent Island’s Randy Main in the semifinals to advance before falling to Parkside’s Eli Sellinger in the championship.

At 182, Micah Bourne earned two byes and advanced straight to the quarterfinals. In his first match, Bourne beat Matthew Henson of Nansemond River and beat Bevensky Augustine of Milford in the semifinals to advance before falling to Dunbar’s Nyck Simpson in the finals.

At 160, James Parana earned a first-round bye and beat Derick Dolla

Stephen Decatur’s varsity wrestling team finished second last weekend at the annual War on the Shore tournament it hosted. Pictured above is the Seahawk team with the second-place trophy.

Submitted photo

Costa of Woodbridge in the second round. Parana then beat Cruz Jaramillo of Damascus in the quarterfinals, but fell to Robert Woodcock of Southern in the semifinals. Parana then beat Patrick Carillo of Freedom in the consolation semifinals and battled back to beat Matthew Prevatte of Nansemond River to take third place.

At 138, Noah Reho moved to the second round with a bye and then beat Carter Lyda of Woodbridge in his first match. Reho beat Patrick Wisniewski of Caesar Rodney in the quarterfinals, but fell to Clement Woods of Mount Saint Joseph’s in the semifinals. Reho beat Jalen Jones of Dunbar in the consolation semifinals, but fell to Max Bentley of Easton in the third-place match to finish fourth.

At 152, Alex Koulikov beat Pehrson Timmons of Lake Braddock in the second round, but dropped his next bout to Cole Velardi of Southern in the quarterfinals. Koulikov then battled back, beating Connor Ott of Good Counsel,

Shane Storm of Freedom and Drew Guttentag of Bethesda-Chevy Chase to reach to third-place match. However, Koulikov fell again to Velardi to finish fourth.

At 195, John Hofman beat Brett Fick of Coatesville and Jason Savage of St. George’s Tech to advance. Hofman then fell to Parker Warner of Mount Saint Joseph’s, but rebounded with wins over Isaiah Poindexter of Upper Darby and Matthew Hague of Milford. Hofman then lost to Maximos Marrero of Freedom, but recovered to beat Shamar Nelson of Caesar Rodney to finish fifth.

At 113, Shamar Baines won his second-round match over Jordan Rinaldi of Parkside, but fell to Corey Messick of Milford in the third round.

Baines then beat Stephen Broad of Kent Island and Joseph Gary of Dunbar to get back to the consolation semifinals. Baines fell to Stephen Mainz of Brooke Pointe and Messick again to finish sixth.

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

iday tournament, the Mallards have won six in a row, including a 51-10 rout of Saints Peter and Paul, a 63-25 win over Salisbury Christian and a 47-15 win over Holly Grove last Friday. With the six-game streak, the Mallards improved to 12-3 overall on the season heading into the winter break. They will pick up where they left off on February 5 with a road game against Salisbury School.

Seahawks Split Two, Improve To 6-1 Worcester Girls Run Win Streak To Six

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

BERLIN – Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity swim team split a pair of meets this week to improve to 6-1 on the season with two dual meets left.

Last week, the Seahawks routed Kent County, 132-25, followed by a 100-70 loss to Delaware powerhouse Cape Henlopen on Tuesday. Since the holiday break, the Decatur girls are 4-1 including other wins over Queen Anne’s and Cambridge-South Dorchester.

The 100-70 loss to Cape Henlopen on Tuesday was the first of the season for the Decatur girls. Despite the outcome in the scorebook, Coach Kristina Watts said the meet was the toughest of the season and while the wins were few, the team was driven by the ramped-up competition. Against Cape, the Seahawks took first in three events including a first-place finish by Natalie Canham in the 100-backstroke, a first in the 100-breaststroke and a win in the 400-freestyle relay by the team of Farrah Brown, Kayden Hamby, Gracie Coker and Canham.

“This was the Decatur girls’ first

loss of the season, but to the hardest competition we’ve swum yet this year,” she said. “Our girls swam the best races of the year tonight. Multiple girls had season best times and even personal best times powered by the awesome competition.”

Tuesday’s first loss of the season came on the heels of a 132-25 rout of Kent County last week. Against Kent County, the Seahawks won every event, took second in every event and placed third in five of the events. Emma Coyman took first in the 200-freestyle, Canham took first in the 200-individual medley and the 100breaststroke, and Emma Perry took first in the 50-freestyle and the 100butterfly.

Hamby took first in the 100-freestyle, Katelyn Pizo took first in the 500-freestyle and Coker took first in the 100-breaststroke. The team of Canham, Coyman, Sperry and Brown took first in the 200-medley relay, Brown, Kayden Hamby, Coker and Canham took first in the 400-freestyle relay and Sperry, Coyman, Kayden Hamby and Kiley Hamby took first in the 200-freestyle relay.

MANAGING EDITOR

BERLIN – Worcester Prep’s girls’ varsity basketball team stayed on a major roll last week, sweeping three games to run its win streak to six games and improve to 12-3 on the season.

Since dropping a pair of tough games in the Governor’s Challenge hol-

Mallards Finish Strong Before Break

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

BERLIN – Worcester Prep’s boys’ varsity basketball team enjoyed a solid finish before the winter break, beating Salisbury Christian and Holly Grove last week before falling to Delmarva Christian on the road on Monday.

Last Wednesday, the Mallards beat Salisbury Christian, 31-29, on the road in a tight, low-scoring game.

Back in action at home last Friday, Worcester beat Holly Grove, 51-39.

The Mallards led 13-11 after one

quarter and just 26-23 at the half.

Holly Grove outscored Worcester in the fourth to take a brief lead, but the Mallards poured it on with a 19-6 fourth quarter to pull away.

Mason Brown led Worcester with 13 points, while Brugh Moore scored 10 and Ryan Cronin added eight. On Monday, the Mallards fell to Delmarva Christian, 67-43, on the road. The Mallards went 5-2 since the holiday break and the season record now stands at 8-7. Worcester will be back in action on February 5 against Salisbury School on the road.

Seahawks Rebound With Win Over Eagles

January 24, 2020

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

BERLIN – Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity basketball team rebounded from its first real adversity of the season with a 58-21 rout of Snow Hill on Tuesday, completing the first season sweep of its county rival in three years.

The Seahawks started the season with six straight wins before splitting a pair of games in the North Caroline holiday tournament. After the Christmas break, the Decatur girls picked up where they left off, beating Wicomico, 35-28, and Mardela, 82-12 to start the second half of the season. However, the Seahawks had hit a wall somewhat over the last week or so with a pair of tough Bayside South losses in-

cluding a 70-55 loss to Bennett and a 63-39 loss to Parkside.

Back in action at home on Tuesday, the Decatur girls routed Snow Hill, 5821, to get back on track. Nadia Bullock led the way with 17 points, while Shelby Rosemond scored 11, Jessica Janney scored eight and Mayah Garner pitched in six.

It was the second win over the Eagles this season for Decatur. The Seahawks beat Snow Hill, 52-16 back on December 10. The last time Decatur swept Snow Hill in a season was back in 2016. Decatur faces another county rival Pocomoke next Thursday on the road and will attempt to sweep the Warriors. The Seahawks beat Pocomoke, 80-21, back on December 19. Decatur’s record now stands at 9-4 on the season.

Decatur Continues Road Win Streak

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s boys’ varsity basketball team continued its road win streak this week with a 57-41 win over Snow Hill on Tuesday.

It has been a season of streaks for the Seahawks, who started with three straight wins before dropping six in a row. Decatur lost its last two games before the holiday break, then dropped two more during the Governor’s Challenge tournament.

The Seahawks then lost their first two games in January, falling to Wi-

comico and Mardela. Since then, however, the Decatur boys have won three straight, all on the road, including Tuesday’s win over Snow Hill. The road streak also includes big Bayside South wins over Bennett and Parkside.

Tuesday’s win over Snow Hill was the second over the Eagles this season. Decatur also beat Snow Hill at home, 64-56, back on December 10.

The Seahawks head back on the road next Tuesday for a rematch with Crisfield, which beat Decatur, 78-53, on December 17. The Seahawks’ season record stands at 6-6.

Track Teams Solid In County Meet

BY SHAWN J. SOPER

MANAGING EDITOR

BERLIN – Stephen Decatur’s varsity indoor track teams turned in solid performances in last week’s meet at the Worcester County Recreation Complex in Snow Hill including a handful of top finishes in some events.

On the girls’ side, Mary Mergott finished third in the 800, while Caroline Gardner was seventh. Mergott also finished fifth in the 1,600. Alyssa Romano finished fifth in the 500, while Julia Carson was 24th. In the girls’ 55meter dash, Alexandria Urbanski finished 43rd and Skylar Griffin finished 45th. In the 300, Audrey-Grace Mumford finished 27th and Niomi Leimbach finished 33rd.

In the 55-meter hurdles, Summer Brenner was 21st and Ivorie Helmbright came in 22nd. In the relays, the Decatur girls finished ninth in the 4x200, 10th in the 4x400 and fourth in the 4x800. In the field events, Taya Price finished 14th in the high jump and Zoriah Shockley finished fifth in the shot put.

On the boys’ side, Kashif Reyes fin-

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ished 31st in the 55-meter dash, while Jaden Holland was 41st and Gavin Weeks was 53rd. Raul Gault finished 18th in the 300, followed by Jaden Holland in 27th and Garrett Herr in 37th. Gault also finished 13th in the 500, while Gavin McCabe was 22nd.

George Cheynet finished 11th in the 800, while Philip Becnel was 24th.

In the 1,600, Samuel Woodley was 10th, Cheynet was 13th and Becnel was 22nd. Liam Foley finished 11th in the 3,200, while Shiloh Ponds finished 16th and Jake Gillespie was 30th.

Samuel Oates finished 11th in the 55meter hurdles.

In the relays, the Decatur boys finished ninth in the 4x200, 10th in the 4x400 and fourth in the 4x800. In the field events, Kai Ross finished 11th in the pole vault and Zachary Hickman was 22nd in the shot put.

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The Adventures Of Fatherhood

By STEVE GREEN

he stress level has been running high this week around the house, due to us being in the middle of a move and midterms for our middle school kid.

Beckett, the sixth grader who was actually taking the tests and moving out of the only home he has ever known, seemed largely unfazed by both, however. Over the last few weeks, I have often wondered if the kids have even grasped the fact we are moving. The clutter of boxes and general disarray associated with packing do not seem to be impacting either kid. The other night Beckett even remarked how something seemed different in our foyer area. He eventually realized about 20 large boxes had been moved and wondered how it happened. When I offered to show him where I moved them at the new house, he said, “oh I’m good.”

For Carson’s part, he likes helping with the moving process. He has helped me relocate dozens of boxes and our entire deck and lawn furniture in the past week. After each trip to and from the houses, he flexes his muscles with fists to the sky. It always makes me laugh. Most people, including me, abhor the process.

Despite dozens of boxes and displaced furniture making the house a bit of a hazard zone, Beckett remained unflustered throughout the week as he prepared for his exams. I cannot say the same thing.

Since we have a lot on our plates with the moving process, we told Beckett over the last couple weeks we need to see independent studying and preparation for his mid-term exams, which cap his first semester in middle school.

He assured us there’s nothing to worry about. He was confident and aware of what was expected. To his credit, he has been doing well in school and even argued he should be able to stay

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up to weekend bedtimes this week because he only had to take an exam or two and was then done for the day.

I even joked to Pam while we were in our attic packing one day that Beckett doesn’t seem stressed at all about his exams. She indicated she was glad someone wasn’t worried.

In fact, when Tuesday afternoon rolled around and it was time for me to test him on what he had been studying for his American History exam, Beckett’s focus was onto something else.

He wanted to talk about his basketball game that night. We agreed to circle back to this after the game.

Wednesday seemed to be the day he got a grip on the reality of what was before him. He woke up exhausted. He said he was sore from doing gymnastics on Monday. He said he was tired from the two exams he had Tuesday and the basketball game that night. He said he needed “five more minutes” of sleep six times. It took me three trips to his room to coax him out of bed so he was at school in time for his exam.

I happened to pick him up after his exam that morning 15 minutes late because we thought it ended at 10:30 a.m. when it was 10. This tardiness pretty much sums up life right now.

Cleaning out our house anytime we are not working is being balanced with trying to keep the kids on track and on an appropriate routine amid the bedlam of packing. There have been situations when we have crashed and burned, including picking him up late from his exam.

As soon as I pulled into school and saw him 100 yards away, I could tell by his body language all was not right. He broke down as soon as he closed the car door. He had gotten a “B” on his history mid-term because he made some mistakes in his preparation for it. He wrongly graded a pretest he took. The answers he marked

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(The writer is the publisher and editor of The Dispatch. He and his wife, Pamela, are proud parents of two boys. This weekly column examines their transition into parenthood and all that goes along with it. E-mail any thoughts to editor@mdcoastdispatch.com.)

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as wrong were right because he didn’t line up the pre-test answers correctly with the questions.

The kid needed to get out a good cry. Though not thrilled he underachieved, I was pleased to see how much he cared. He was mad at himself for making a silly mistake on his study materials. He knew if he hadn’t messed up he would have easily done better. We also knew if we weren’t distracted by the move we would have noticed his mistakes. There was a good heaping dose of parenting guilt added to the equation now.

Though I hate to see him so upset, he needed to have this learning experience. He was not taking these exams as serious as he should. Though he put in the effort studying, I’m not positive it was quality, productive time for the most part.

We don’t know how he did on his other exams this week, but my expectations are not high. My guess is he achieved about the same. He is still learning studying skills. He’s adept at memorizing, but there also needs to be a deeper understanding of the materials to excel on tough tests that require writing and expounding on the facts.

At pickup on Thursday, there was no poor body language. Though he didn’t know the grade and thought it was difficult, he felt like he did well on his science exam. In his mind, more importantly, midterms were completed, and he didn’t have school the next day or the entire following week. That relief won out over any concerns he may have been harboring over his exam grade, at least for now.

Meanwhile, we went back to packing.

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January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Page 49

Students

The Baltimore Ravens, M&T Bank and the Governor’s Office on Service & Volunteerism congratulated Bill Noah and the Berlin Intermediate School's After School Academy on being selected as a 2019-2020 Honor Rows recipient. They honored and rewarded the students for their amazing community work with tickets to the last home game for the Ravens against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Submitted Photos

In The News

Worcester Prep Middle/Upper School Music Director Christopher Buzby and his Select Vocal Ensemble treated residents of three local senior living communities in Berlin, Snow Hill and Salisbury, to singing performances and handmade cards during the holidays. Following the annual tradition, the Ensemble pulled off another successful flash mob in The Centre At Salisbury during their lunch at the food court. Above, Ensemble seniors Devin Wallace, Annika Larsen and Quinn McColgan share cards with senior living residents Bob and Edith H. Below, C.C. Lizas, Waverly Choy and Ian Betterson share handmade cards with Wanda R., Carol H. and Mary K.

Students in Eliza Mason-Burt’s third grade class at Ocean City Elementary School were the recipients of a grant awarded to Mason-Burt through the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore in November. The grant money was used to purchase 10 sets of Oculus Go Virtual Reality headsets. The children have already taken virtual tours of active volcanoes in Russia, helicopter tours of waterfalls and mountain ranges, virtual boat tours of dinosaur-filled swamps, and explored interactive weather applications.

Three Stephen Decatur High School students were named finalists in the Eastern Shore Literacy Association Young Authors' Contest. Freshman Jessica Beck, sophomore Jake Gillespie and junior Lydia Woodley, pictured with Principal Thomas Sites, were each recognized for their work in the short story category.

Berlin Intermediate School sixth graders have been collecting supplies for the Worcester County Humane Society, a no-kill shelter. Supporting the shelter is part of their service learning goals. Pictured are Dylan Ringen, Collin Pennington, Olivia Koval, Anthony Perella, Ellie Cheynet and Sophia Ferrante

Page 50

WeSt oCeaN City-BeRliN-oCeaN PiNeS

aSSateague DiNeR Rte. 611 & Sunset ave., West ocean City 443-664-8158 www.assateaguedinerandbar.com Inspired by a classic diner culture, this new hotspot offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu here features classic comfort foods prepared and executed with a modern coastal trust.

Be sure to check out the exceptional coffee program and the Westside Bar within features delicious craft cocktails throughout the day.

BlaCKSmith ReStauRaNt & BaR 104 Pitts St., Berlin • 410-973-2102 Located in the heart of America’s Coolest Small Town, Berlin, Md., Blacksmith has established itself as one the area’s most loved dining and drinking destinations for foodies and wine, spirt and craft beer enthusiasts. Chef owned and locally sourced, Blacksmith keeps the main focus on Eastern Shore tradition. Everything here is homemade and handmade. Cakes and baked goods are delivered daily from down the street. Cozy and modern, traditional and on trend; Blacksmith has risen to the ranks of the area’s finest casual eating and drinking establishments. Visit and see why folks from Baltimore, D.C., Chincoteague and locals alike think Blacksmith is worth the trip. Open daily at 11:30 a.m. for lunch, dinner and bar snacks. Closed Sunday.

BReaKfaSt Cafe of oCeaN City 12736 ocean gateway, West ocean City 410-213-1804 Open 7 days a week between Sunsations & Starbucks, across from Outback, come join us at the “Breakfast Cafe” (formerly Rambler Coffee Shop) we are a family-friendly restaurant that’s been family owned for 30 years passed from mother to son in 2001. We believe that fair pricing, putting out quality food as fresh as we can make it and a nice atmosphere makes a meal. I like to think we have many “House Specialties” which include our Crab Omelet, real crab meat, cheddar cheese and mushrooms, our Sunfest Omelet, Swiss cheese, ham and mushrooms; Cafe or French Sampler, pancakes or French toast, with eggs, bacon and sausage. Homemade creamed chipped beef on toast and sausage gravy on biscuits with browned potato home fries, with onion, excellent cheesesteak subs and fries and more! We use Rapa Scrapple fried on the grill the way you like it for all our breakfasts, sandwiches and sides. Summer hours, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Come enjoy!

CaRiBBeaN joe’S BaR & gRille 12614 ocean gateway Next to alamo hotel 443-664-8509 Completely renovated and under new ownership, we are proudly located at the first ever motel in Ocean City, “The Alamo.” You truly will not believe what we’ve done! Thursday we have fresh 1/2-lb. burgers served on a delicious Hawaiian Roll for only $5. Wash it down with a natural light for only $1. We also have tender pulled-pork sandwiches and unique chicken salad to die for. We’re open 7 days a week when the season kicks in. Come see our Caribbean atmosphere, 7 flat-screen TVs and the coolest pool bar in Ocean City.

CRaB alley golf Course Rd., West ocean City head of Commercial fishing harbor 410-213-7800 • www.craballey.com Just close enough to be out of the way-located at

Dining Out The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

the head of the commercial fishing harbor in West Ocean City, Crab Alley has it all! Spectacular view, casual and fun atmosphere, super service and mouth-watering food combine to make “The Alley” a true locals’ favorite. Enjoy our light fare and full menu of unbelievably fresh seafood, chicken and steaks indoors or on our upper deck.

We offer appetizers, sandwiches and a children’s menu too. Our name says it all -”crack’em and attack ‘em”. Big Fat Crabs both by the dozen and all you can enjoy specials. Check out our website for our fantastic happy hour food and drink specials or find us on Facebook. Having a special affair? We can handle your group, large party or special occasion. Make Crab Alley your first stop!

the Dough RolleR West ocean City, 410-213-7655 S. Division St. & Boardwalk, 410-289-3501 3rd St. & Boardwalk 410-289-2599 41st St. & Coastal hwy • 410-524-9254 70th St. & Coastal hwy • 410-524-7981 Ocean City’s favorite family restaurant for 40 years! Open 8 a.m. breakfast, lunch and dinner, great kid’s menu. Breakfast and lunch specials offered during the week at WOC, 41st Street and 70th Street locations. At same locations, Tuesdays are half-price pizza nights; Wednesdays are Dollar Days with special offers for breakfast and dinner.

Thursdays are half-price Italian dinner nights.

Order online DoughRollerRestaurants.com

DumSeR’S DaiRylaND West ocean City, Boardwalk locations, 501 S. Philadelphia ave., 49th St. & 123rd St. www.dumsersdairyland.com This classic ice cream shop is a tradition for many families. Voted O.C.'s “Best Ice Cream” for the past 20 years, Dumser's is celebrating 80 years of serving the shore, and the ‘40s-style décor takes you back in time. With locations throughout Ocean City, treating your tastebuds to this signature homemade ice cream is easy. The 49th and 124th streets locations offer vast lunch and dinner menus (breakfast too at 124th) in addition to a wide variety of ice cream treats. You’ll find an impressive array of kid-favorites, along with fried chicken and seafood options, wraps, subs, sandwiches, salads and sides like sweet potato fries and mac-and-cheese wedges.

fox’S Pizza DeN 11328 Samuel Bowen Blvd., West ocean City 410-600-1020 • www.foxpizzamd.com Enjoy a brand new, spacious dining room. Happy hour every day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. with $5 food specials and awesome drink specials. Enjoy incredible weekly chef specials along with our extensive regular menu. Check out foxspizzamd.com for a list of our regular menu items.

full mooN SalooN 12702 old Bridge Rd., West ocean City 443-664-5317

Locally owned and operated, this moderately priced casual restaurant/bar has freshly caught seafood, BBQ, and pork entrees, giant sandwiches as well as a variety of homemade soups.

Locally we are known for our jumbo lump crab cakes, pork and beef BBQ, cream of crab soup, and 100% angus burgers as well as a variety of other sandwiches and entrees that are cooked with a local flair. Open daily at 11 a.m. for lunch and open until midnight. Sundays breakfast offered 8 a.m.-noon. Fifteen televisions and a big screen available for all sports events.

gReeNe tuRtle-WeSt Rte. 611, West ocean City • 410-213-1500 Visit Maryland’s No. 1 Sports Pub and Rest-aurant, the World-Famous Greene Turtle. Proudly serving West Ocean City since January 1999, The Greene Turtle features a beautiful 80-seat dining room, large bar area with 54 TVs with stereo sound and game room with pool tables.

With an exciting menu, The Greene Turtle is sure to please with delicious sizzling steaks, jumbo lump crab cakes, raw bar, homemade salads and more. Live entertainment, Keno, Turtle apparel, kids menu, carry-out. Something for everyone!

Voted best sports bar, wings and burgers in West OC. Great happy hour and plenty of parking. hooteRS ReStauRaNt Rt. 50 & Keyser Point Rd., West ocean City 410-213-1841 • www.hootersofoc.com New mouthwatering smoked wings with half the calories. Traditional wings and boneless wings with 12 sauce selections. Burgers, quesadillas, tacos, and healthy salads. Extensive seafood selections with raw bar and Alaskan crab legs. Children's menu and game room. Apparel and souvenir shop. Sports packages on a ton of TVs and live entertainment. Wing-fest every Tuesday from 6 to 8 with 50 cent wings. And of course, the world famous Hooters Girls. Large parties welcome. Call for private party planning.

lighthouSe SouND St. martin’s Neck Rd. • 410-352-5250 Enjoy the best views of Ocean City at the newly renovated, Lighthouse Sound. Come relax and dine overlooking the bay and the beautiful Ocean City skyline. Savor entrees such as local rockfish, tempura-battered soft shell crabs, char-grilled filet mignon and jumbo lump crabcakes. Open to the public, we serve Sunday brunch, lunch and dinner. One mile west of Ocean City, Md., just off Route 90 on St. Martin’s Neck Road. Reservations recommended.

Ruth’S ChRiS Within the glenRiddle Community 410-213-9444 • www.ruthschris.com Ruth’s Chris specializes in the finest custom-aged Midwestern beef. We broil it exactly the way you like it at 1,800 degrees to lock in the corn-fed flavor. Then we serve your steak sizzling on a

January 24, 2020 heated plate so that it stays hot throughout your meal. Many of our recipes were developed by Ruth, favorites such as shrimp Remoulade, Crabtini and Ruth’s chop salad. Located five miles west of Ocean City in the GlenRiddle Golf clubhouse.

Extensive wine list. Reservations recommended.

the ShaRK oN the haRBoR 12924 Sunset ave., West ocean City 410-213-0924 • ocshark.com We make real food from scratch. We believe that great food and healthful ingredients are not mutually exclusive of each other. Featuring local organic produce and seafood. All natural products – clear of preservatives and antibiotics. Whole grains and whole foods are used in the preparation of our menu – which our chefs write twice daily, based on what's fresh, available and delicious. Fresh. Local. Organic. Taste the difference.

Open Daily Year Round, Monday through Saturday for Lunch & Dinner and Sundays for Brunch, Lunch & Dinner. Reservations suggested. iNlet to 94th StReet

28th St. Pit & PuB 28th St. & Coastal hwy.

410-289-2020 • www.pitandpub.com Ocean City’s home of Pulled Pork and the finest barbecue, the legendary 28th Street Pit & Pub is known for serving up delicious smokehouse specialties. Grab a brew and enjoy the live sports action on one of the big screen TVs. Happy Hour daily, 3-6 p.m. Family friendly atmosphere. Weekend entertainment.

32 Palm 32nd St. oceanside in the hilton 410-289-2525 • www.32palm.com Executive Chef Rick Goodwin has introduced an exciting new menu. A favorite among many is the Bermuda Triangle, featuring cinnamon seared scallops finished with an ancho mango coulis along with house broiled crabcake with a sweet chili remoulade and finally, applewood smoked bacon wrapped around jumbo shrimp, grilled to perfection with jalapeno barbecue sauce. Other wonderfully delicious dishes cover the land and sea as well and each have a special touch that makes this restaurant unique among its peers. Children’s menu available. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

45th StReet taPhouSe 45th St. & the Bay • 443-664-2201 At the newly remodeled 45th Street Taphouse, the best views of bayside Ocean City, MD are the backdrop where craft beer meets Maryland cuisine. This is vacation done right, all year long.

Wash down a Crabby Pretzel or homemade crabcakes with one of our 35+ craft beers on tap, all made right here in the USA. Not feeling crabby?

Pair your craft brew with our award-winning wings or even our brand new breakfast menu. Anyway it’s served, come get tapped with us.

BoNfiRe 71st St. & Coastal hwy. • 410-524-7171 www.thebonfirerestaurant.com 150 ft. Seafood & Prime Rib Buffet. A famous Ocean City Restaurant for 37 years. It’s all here. The service, the atmosphere and the finest, freshest food available. Fresh seafood, snow crab legs, prime rib, BBQ ribs, raw oysters, raw clams, steamed shrimp, fish, homemade soups & salads.

Decadent dessert selection – homemade donuts & See Next Page

Come Join Us On Sunday

EVERY SUNDAY 8:30 a.m.: Fellowship In The He Brews Cafe

Stevenson United Methodist Church

123 North Main St., Berlin, Md. 410-641-1137 • www.stevensonchurch.org

9 a.m.: Blended Sunday Worship Service

9:30 a.m.: Children And Youth Sunday School

January 24, 2020

bread pudding, soft serve ice cream with hot fudge topping and lots more! Large selection of children’s favorites – chicken tenders, hot dogs, burgers, macaroni & cheese and pizza. A la carte menu available featuring fresh cut steaks and seafood. Currently closed. Opening in February. Plenty of free parking.

BUXY’S SALTY DOG 28th St. • 410-289-0973 • www.buxys.com Destiny has a new home in Ocean City. From the ‘burgh to the beach, Buxy’s is your home away from Pittsburgh. Come see what all the locals already know and have known – Buxy’s is the place to come to meet friends, relax and be social with no attitudes. House specialties include “The” Cheesesteak Sub, Primanti-styled sandwiches, piero-gis,egg-rolls and homemade crab dip.

Don’t miss our daily specials.

COINS PUB & RESTAURANT 28th St. Plaza • 410-289-3100 Great mid-town location offering a complete dinner menu, lunch and lite fare. Coins features the freshest seafood, shrimp, scallops, clams, fresh catch and lobster plus the best crab cake in Maryland, hand cut steaks cook-ed to your liking, succulent veal and chicken dishes. Also authentic pasta selections. Enjoy live entertainment and dancing in the lounge nightly. Happy hour daily 3-6 p.m. Casual dining in a relaxed atmosphere.

Special kids menu. Lots of free parking.

DRY 85 OC 12 48th St. • 443-664-8989 • dry85.com Steps from the beach. Gourmet "stick to your ribs" Lowcountry cuisine. A made-from-scratch kitchen with every sauce and every dressing hand crafted. It's that attention to detail that takes the concept of burgers, fries, ribs and wings and turns them completely on their head. Charcuterie boards. Late night bar. 120+ Whiskies. Craft beer. Artisanal craft cocktails. Seasonal outdoor seating. Named one of the Top 40 Whiskey Bars in America by Whiskey Advocate.

DRY DOCK 28 28th St. & Coastal Hwy. • 410-289-0973 The new kid on the dining scene in Ocean City features eclectic pizzas, delicious sandwiches, soups, salads and hot steamers in a modern, nautical themed atmosphere. A beautiful boat bar is featured inside and features craft cocktails and brews. Outdoor seating is available. Carry out available and beer and wine to go. Live music is also offered in this kid-friendly establishment.

FAGER’S ISLAND RESTAURANT & BAR 201 60th St. On The Bay 410-524-5500 • www.fagers.com Fager’s Island is an award-winning popular bayfront restaurant where lunch is a forgivable habit, dinner an event and sunsets unforgettable. Lite fare lunch served from 11 a.m.-9 p.m., dinner from 5 p.m., famous raw bar, festive Sunday Jazz Brunch, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and children’s menu.

Complete house wine list and award-winning proprietor’s list available upon request. Outdoor decks and bar. Nightly entertainment in-season, Friday-Saturday, off-season. Open every day, year-round. A Fun Place!

HIGGINS CRAB HOUSE 31st St. & Coastal Hwy. • 410-289-2581 There is no doubt about it. Higgins offers traditional Eastern Shore favorites for the entire family to enjoy. Of course, the house special-ties include all-you-can-eat crabs, crab legs, fried

Dining Out The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

chicken, steamed shrimp and baby back ribs. In addition, there is a full menu offering a variety of delicious soups, appetizers and entrees. Open Friday at 2:30 p.m., Saturday & Sunday at noon.

North location reopens mid-March.

JOHNNY'S PIZZA & SPORTS PUB 56th St. & Coastal Hwy. 410-723-5600 • www.johnnyspizzapub.com The Official Pizza of OC, Johnny's Pizza & Sports Pub serves families throughout Ocean City and its surrounding communities 365 days a year. Eat in, carry out or have it delivered right to your doorstep. Our comfortable dining room features ample seating for small groups or large parties and our speedy delivery service will deliver your hot, delicious pizza right to your home, hotel or condo for your added convenience. From steaming homemade pizzas to lightly tossed salads and fiery hot wings, we have something for everyone.

Live entertainment every weekend all winter and live entertainment four nights in the summer.

MARLIN MOON RESTAURANT 33rd St. in the DoubleTree Oceanfront 410-289-1201 • www.marlinmoonocmd.com Eat where the locals eat. Marlin Moon is back in town with the talented Executive Chef, Gary Beach, creating his legendary food magic. Marlin Moon combines an eclectic atmosphere of ocean views and a fresh vibe with creative seafood and steak dishes you won’t forget. Winner of the Maryland People’s Choice Award, Marlin Moon delivers the culinary combinations you’re craving and uses only locally sourced seafood, meats and vegetables. Some of the original classics, such as Mom’s Shrimp and Freddy’s Seafood Pasta, are back as well as a raw bar, small plate appetizers, fresh salads and entrees sure to satisfy any food mood. Open daily serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 7 a.m.-11 p.m.

RED RED WINE BAR OC 12 48th St. • 443-664-6801 • redredwinebar.com Steps from the beach. Fresh coastal cuisine with a focus on locally sourced seafood and hand tossed pizzas. Artisanal cheeseboards. 35+ Wines By the Glass. Full bar. Craft beer. Late night bar.

Luxurious colors and custom built couches. Casual atmosphere. Seasonal outdoor seating.

Named Best Wine and Beverage Program in Maryland by the Restaurant Association.

PICKLES PUB 8th St., Ocean City • 410-289-4891 It’s pub food with a twist and a special emphasis put on quality and large portions. The big juicy burgers and oven baked wedge sandwiches are locals’ favorites as are the pub wings (in a variety of styles) and tacos (choose from thai pulled pork, grilled chicken and blacked ahi avocado). There are numerous unique craft pizza options to choose from as well with the house favorite here being the blackened shrimp and arugula.

this week’s

open houses

CALL AGENTS FOR DIRECTIONS

View more open houses at mdcoastdispatch.com SELBYVILLE 30068 Sanctuary Dr The Overlook Tues-Sat 10-5 Sun-Mon 12-5 New Construction Single Family Homes Bayfront Community NV Homes 302-988-2185

WEST OCEAN CITY West Harbor Village 9800-32 Mooring View Lane Fri-Sun 11-5 New Construction Townhomes Harbor Homes 443-366-2814

FRANKFORD The Estuary Islander Beach Rd Fri-Sun Noon-4 New Construction Model Homes Woods/Pond Lots Many Amenities Ryan Homes 302-321-9194

OCEAN CITY The Latitudes 25th Street Bayfront Thurs-Mon 10-4 New Construction 3BR/3BA/Garage Townhomes Mary McCracken Long & Foster 410-430-7302

SEACRETS • On The Bay At 49th St. 410-524-4900 • www.seacrets.com We are Jamaica USA! Serving our world famous jerk chicken, along with a full menu of appetizers, soups, sandwiches, salads, entrees, desserts and a children's menu. Enjoy happy hour drink prices until 7 p.m.and live entertainment in a tropical atmosphere. Please check our website www.seacrets.com for a complete list of live bands and daily food and drink specials or call 410-524-4900. Find us and get lost!

94TH ST. NORTH-FENWICK-BETHANY

ABBEY BURGER BISTRO 410-250-2333 • 12601 Coastal Hiwy.

An enticing selection of flavors are offered for any burger palate, from rotating exotic meats like antelope to locally raised Dry Aged Black Angus to Delicious Handmade Vegetarians and even Vegan options. All are hand-pattied and made to order. If you’re feeling creative, you can build your own using our signature ‘Build A Burger’ checklist, or simply choose one of the tested and proven classics and leave it to the chef. A wide selection of local, domestic, and imported beers and micro-brews as well as an expansive bar are featured. Also offered are adult and children’s arcade games as well as a children’s play area.

CAROUSEL OCEANFRONT HOTEL & CONDOS 118th St. & the Beach • 410-524-1000 Reef 118 Oceanfront Restaurant located in the Carousel Hotel offers beautiful oceanfront dining in a casual atmosphere. Enjoy a hearty breakfast buffet or try one of our specialty omelets including lump crab and asparagus. Our menu offers a wide variety of Succulent Seafood along with steaks, pastas & ribs. $5.95 kids’ menu available.

Stop by the Bamboo Lounge serving happy hour daily 4-6 p.m. with super drink prices and $4.95 food specials. Visit the Carousel and get served by the friendliest staff in OC!

CRABCAKE FACTORY BAYSIDE Rt. 54, Selbyville, DE • 302-988-5000 Under new ownership but SAME award-winning crab cakes and bloody marys! Enjoy WATERFRONT dining. Full-service family restaurant, carry-out & sports bar. Outside seating available.

Open daily at 9 a.m. YEAR ROUND. Menu selections include crab cakes, prime rib, Philly-style cheese steaks, various seafood, kids menu plus full breakfast menu. visit us online at crabcakefactory-online.com or on our Facebook page. Casual dress, full liquor bar, no reservations.

GREENE TURTLE-NORTH 116th St. & Coastal Hwy • 410-723-2120 www.facebook.com/OriginalGreeneTurtle This is the Original Greene Turtle, an Ocean City Tradition, since 1976! A fun and friendly Sports

Page 51

Bar & Grille, where every seat is a great spot to watch sports with 50+ High Def. TVs up & downstairs! Menu favorites include homemade crab cakes, kids’ menu, salads, burgers, wings and more! Join them for weekday lunch specials 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and happy hour 3-7 p.m. Popular features are game room, gift shop, carry-out, party trays, nightly drink specials, MD Lottery-Keno, Powerball and DJs with dance floor. Something for everyone! Open 11 a.m-2 a.m., year-round.

HARPOON HANNA’S RESTAURANT & BAR Rte. 54 & The Bay, Fenwick Island, DE www.harpoonhannasrestaurant.com 302-539-3095 No reservations required. Harpoon Hanna’s features a children’s menu & full bar. We are a casual waterfront restaurant serving lunch & dinner including fesh fish, seafood, steaks, sandwiches and allyou-can-eat Alaskan crab legs. Open year-round.

HORIZONS OCEANFRONT RESTAURANT Located Inside The Clarion Resort 101st St., Ocean City • 410-524-3535 Horizons Oceanfront Restaurant is proud to have Chef Rob Sosnovich creating beach-inspired dishes in both our oceanfront restaurants, Horizons and Breaker’s Pub. Our new all day menu, available 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m., features many of your favorites and some exciting new creations with a local flare – from Lite Bites to Big Bites and everything in between. Our deluxe Sunday breakfast buffet is open year-round and our “famous” all-you-can-eat prime rib, crab legs and seafood buffet is available most weekends throughout the year and daily in season. The Ocean Club Nightclub features top-40 dance music every weekend and nightly this summer. We’ve added some popular local bands to our lineup, so come join us “where the big kids play!”

Lenny’s Beach Bar & Grill: enjoy surf, sun and live entertainment 7 days a week on the deck, from Memorial day through Labor Day during our afternoon beach parties. Enjoy something to eat or drink from our extensive menu. Try our “Bucket of Fun”, or a fresh “Orange Crush”–two of our favorites!

LIGHTHOUSE SOUND RESTAURANT 12723 St. Martin’s Neck Road, Bishopville, MD • 410-641-1199 Join us for dinner tonight and enjoy the best views of Ocean City, overlooking the Assawoman Bay and the Ocean City skyline. We feature our signature crab cakes, sizzling steaks and fresh fish entrees. Join us for lunch, dinner or Sunday brunch. Specializing in weddings and banquets.

For more info visit www.lighthousesoundrestaurant.com or call 410-641-1199.

SMITTY MCGEE’S Rte. 54-West Fenwick Ireland 302-436-4716 • www.smittymcgees.com Smitty McGee’s is the place to be for fun. Best wings on the beach for 28 years and counting.

Enjoy great food and drink specials in a casual atmosphere. Happy hour daily. Come enjoy the live entertainment Thursday and Friday. Full menu served unil 1 a.m. Banquet facilities available. Open seven days a week. We never close!

SURF’S EDGE DELI & PIZZERIA 100 Coastal Hwy., Fenwick Island 302-537-5565 Best Salads award by Coastal Style 4 years in a row. Healthy, casual dining featuring home-made salads, fresh salads, subs, paninis, sandwiches and pizza. Open for lunch and dinner. Children’s menu, take-out and delivery available.

Page 52

Best Beats

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Berlin Liquor Store

Largest Liquor Store In OC Area!

Cold & Warm Beer

BEER•LIQUOR•WINE Every Thursday And Sunday Senior Citizens Get

10% OFF

10% OFF

Liquor And Wine

Liquor And Wine

(On Orders Of $50 Or More)

Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Must bring in coupon. Expires 02/09/20 • MCD

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

10818 Ocean Gateway, Berlin, MD 21811 410-973-2873

January 24, 2020

on the beach

who’s where when 28th/127th st. PIt & Pub 410-289-2020 443-664-7482 28th st. & COastal hwy.

127th st. & COastal hwy.

Friday, Feb. 7: Elvis The Man atlaNtIC hOtEl 410-641-3589 2 NOrth MaIN st., bErlIN Mondays: Earl Beardsley Tuesdays: Bob Miller on Piano

buxy’s salty DOG/ Dry DOCk 28 410-289-0973 28th st. & COastal hwy.

Winter Break: Reopen Feb. 13 ClarION hOtEl 410-524-3535 10100 COastal hwy.

Ocean Club: Friday & Saturday, Jan. 24 & 25: On The Edge Fridays & Saturdays: DJ Dusty

CrabCakE FaCtOry baysIDE 302-988-5000 rt. 54, FENwICk IslaND, DE Friday, Jan. 24: Ricky & Lennon LaRicci Wednesday, Jan. 29: Darin Engh FaGEr’s IslaND 410-524-5500 60th st. IN thE bay Friday, Jan. 24: DJ Greg, DJ RobCee Saturday, Jan. 25: DJ Groove

GrEENE turtlE NOrth 410-723-2120 11601 COastal hwy.

Friday, Jan. 24: DJ BK Saturday, Jan. 25: Dr. Harmonica & Rockett 88 GrEENE turtlE wEst 410-213-1500 rtE. 611, wEst OC Sunday, Jan. 26: DJ BK Tuesday, Jan. 28: Blake Haley

OttO GruNDMaN Crabcake Factory: thursdays

DarIN ENGh Crabcake Factory bayside: wednesday, jan. 29

Dj Dusty Clarion/Ocean Club: Every Friday & saturday

Dj rObCEE Fager’s Island: Friday, jan. 24

Dj bk Greene turtle North: Friday, jan. 24 Greene turtle west: sunday, jan. 26

Dj GrOOvE Fager’s Island saturday, jan. 25

blakE halEy Greene turtle west: tuesday, jan. 28

bEats by jErEMy Pickles Pub: Fridays & Mondays

bEats by aDaM DutCh Pickles Pub: saturday, january 25

bEats by wax Pickles Pub: thursdays

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Page 53

Who’s Where When

ON THE EDGE Clarion/Ocean Club: Friday & Saturday, Jan. 24 & 25

DR. HARMONICA & ROCKETT 88 Greene Turtle North: Saturday, Jan. 25

HARPOON HANNA’S 302-539-3095 RT. 54 & THE BAY, FENWICK ISLAND, DE Friday, Jan. 24: Dave Hawkins, Full Circle Saturday, Jan. 25: Dave Sherman Thursday, Jan. 30: Kevin Poole HOOTERS 410-213-1841 12513 OCEAN GATEWAY, RTE. 50, WEST OC Friday, Jan. 24: DJ BK

FULL CIRCLE Harpoon Hanna’s : Friday, Jan. 24

MUSKRAT LIGHTNING Crabcake Factory Loca Madre: Saturday, Jan. 25

RANDY LEE ASHCRAFT & THE SALTWATER COWBOYS Smitty McGee’s: Thursdays & Fridays Johnny’s Pizza & Pub: Wednesdays

RICKY & LENNON LARICCI Crabcake Factory Bayside: Friday, Jan. 24

JOHNNY’S PIZZA & PUB 410-723-5600 RT. 54, FENWICK ISLAND, DE Wednesdays: Randy Lee Ashcraft & The Saltwater Cowboys PICKLES PUB 410-289-4891 8TH ST. & PHILADELPHIA AVE. Friday, Jan. 24: Beats By Jeremy Saturday, Jan. 25: Beats By Adam Dutch Mondays: Karaoke W/ Jeremy Wednesdays: Beats By Skyler Thursdays: Beats By Wax SMITTY MCGEE’S 302-436-4716 37234 LIGHTHOUSE RD., WEST FENWICK IRELAND, DE Thursdays & Fridays: Randy Lee Ashcraft & The Saltwater Cowboys

W.A.C.K. Greene Turtle West: Saturday, Feb. 1

NEW CENSATION Clarion/Ocean Club: Friday & Saturday, Jan. 31 & Feb. 1

SEACRETS 410-524-4900 49TH ST. & COASTAL HWY. Winter Break: Reopen Jan. 31

BERLIN LIONS CLUB

WHOLE HOG SAUSAGE SALE SATURDAY

February 1, 2020 8 a.m.-until???

410-641-1064 Call For Pre-Orders Of 10 lbs. Or More Sponsored By Berlin Lions Club South Route 113 • Berlin, Maryland

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The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

Grand Opening!

OCEAN CITY vanishing

January 24, 2020

WITH BUNK MANN

Your Countertop Specialists

Fabricating & installing quartz, granite and solid surface tops Up to date, state of the art equipment

Family Owned & Operated

SINCE 1982

Call: 443.856.4437 or See Us On Facebook 34407 Dupont Blvd., Unit 9 • (Rt. 113 North) Frankford, DE Visit our website for showroom hours • www.creativeincounters.com

WE HAVE FRESH, LOCAL CHESAPEAKE BAY OYSTERS

FRIED, STEAMED, ON THE HALF-SHELL, BAKED

SWIM UP TO OUR RAW BOAT SPECIAL Oysters, Clams, Large Chilled, Steamed Shrimp $1.50 Each

Call For Crab Prices And Availability

www.higginscrabhouse.com

Family Friendly

Kids’ Menu Availble

HIGGINS SOUTH

31ST ST. & COASTAL HWY. 410-289-2581 OPEN FRI 2:30, SAT NOON

Just A Few Blocks South of the Convention Center

HIGGINS NORTH

128TH ST. & COASTAL HWY. 410-250-2304 RESTAURANT REOPENS MARCH 2020 Liquor Store Reopens February 14

The northwest corner of 3rd Street and Baltimore Avenue is one of the most historic spots in Ocean City. Known today as the location of City Hall the building became the site of the Maryland State Normal School – a college to train school teachers – 1915. The teacher’s college would only exist there for two years.

The structure became the Ocean City High School in 1917 and expanded to include the elementary school in 1929. For the next quarter century, the high school students occupied the second floor while the younger children were taught on the ground floor. Both shared the cafeteria and the gymnasium.

The last high school class graduated in 1954 and Ocean City High School merged with Berlin’s Buckingham High to form Stephen Decatur High School on the outskirts of Berlin. The elementary school remained open until a new one was built in West Ocean City in 1965.

To purchase one of Bunk Mann's books, click over to www.vanishPostcard image from Bunk Mann’s collection ingoc.com.

January 24, 2020

The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch

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January 24, 2020