OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
JULY 3, 2020
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
What
will July 4th bring forth for weekend? By Josh Kim Staff Writer (July 3, 2020) Ocean City is preparing itself for a Fourth of July weekend unlike any other, as it deals with potential fallout from fireworks display postponement, pent-up travel demand and the closure of all bars and bar service at next door Delaware’s beaches. “We definitely expect an influx of
Possible influx from Delaware, where beach bars will be closed on a traditionally thirsty holiday celebration. visitors but are confident that our business community is following the governor’s occupancy orders and are complying with all of the state regulations,” interim Tourism Director
Jessica Waters said. “We are also working with the [Worcester County] Health Department and [Worcester County] Board of Licensing, along with having our fire marshals check-
HOLIDAY The Ocean City Today and Bayside Gazette office will be closed on Friday, July 3 for the Independence Day weekend. It will reopen at 8:30 a.m. on Monday
FREE ing occupancy. It is a team-wide effort to keep our community moving forward.” Delaware Gov. John Carney announced his decision to close beach bars on Tuesday, after a recent upswing in covid-19 cases. The rise in cases there has been seen among lifeguards, bar staff and some senior beach week party goers, as reported by the Baltimore Sun’s McKenna Oxenden. Areas of concern include Rehoboth Beach, Lewis and south of Dewey Beach. Nationwide, states such as Texas, Florida, Arizona and California are backtracking after seeing record infection rates. While Maryland cases continue to rise, key metrics, such as hospitalizations, deaths and positivity rates have declined or plateaued consistently. The positivity rate is the number of See OC BUSINESSES Page 2
Resort police tested by spike in incidents Videos playing bigger role in helping identify suspects in usual summer increase
PHOTO COURTESY JIM HALVORSEN
The Tranquilo, a 70-foot yacht worth $700,000 that was seized by the federal government in November 2019, was removed from the water at Sunset Marina on Sunset Avenue on Tuesday.
Yacht lost in heavy seize By Ally Lanasa Staff Writer (July 3, 2020) The Tranquilo, a 70-foot yacht that was seized by the federal government in November, was hoisted out of the Sunset Marina in West Ocean City on Tuesday. The vessel was taken from Long Is-
land, New York-based owners Jack and Frances Cabasso, who were charged with money laundering, fraud and illegal transportation of equipment manufactured in China, such as survelliance cameras. Long Island’s Newsday reported See YACHT Page 4
By Josh Kim Staff Writer (July 3, 2020) Although correlation does not always mean causation, in this case it does. As visitors return to Ocean City, the resort has seen an uptick in crime — as it always does — which has kept the Ocean City Police Department busy. “During the month of June, we have investigated six stabbings, an armed carjacking, a robbery, a firstdegree assault and one shooting,” said Ashley Miller, police deputy communications manager. “From these incidents we have made 15 felony arrests.” This past weekend alone, the police department made nine DUI ar-
rests, 22 calls for service in regards to controlled dangerous substance violations and 59 calls for service for alcohol violations. Calls for service refers to what the officer responds to, and does not necessarily deem whether someone committed a violation. That is determined during the investigation. As previously reported, last month was particularly busy for police, as a new violent or disorderly event seemed to take place every day. However, the police department has been successful in investigating these incidents, in large part due to recordings. “The submission of video evidence from City Watch [camera surveillance program], private businesses and cell phone video has been used in many of these cases with great success,” Miller said. See POLICE Page 5