OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
JULY 9, 2021
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
FIREWORKS
SPARKLES AND BOOMS
Surprise misfire on the beach sends bombs flying high and low Sunday morning – Page 4
FREE
Parking meter software goes into overtime Glitch, since fixed, charged customers more than once
LISA CAPITELLI/OCEAN CITY TODAY
The beach downtown and all along Ocean City was packed during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, as huge crowds descended on the resort. Even so, the number of rescues and emergency calls was not unusually high.
Fourth crowd a record breaker? Actual numbers unknown, but appearances suggest past weekend was huge By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer (July 9, 2021) Even with a bum fireworks show and one rain-soaked afternoon, Ocean City’s Fourth of July 2021 may have been the largest one in recent memory. “We had a really good weekend,” said Tom Perlozzo, the resort’s director of tourism and business development, “As far as I could see … we were packed full up and down the beach. It was good to see things were sort of back to normal.” While solid occupancy numbers
haven’t been tallied, the presence of people from sand to bay and beyond were a pretty clear indication that the resort has bounced back from the wrath of the pandemic in terms of tourism. “Obviously 2020 versus 2021, we probably doubled our numbers,” Perlozzo said. “There was some discussion beforehand that information [showed] the largest Fourth of July we’ve had in quite some time.” Susan Jones, the executive director of the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association, said the phones were busy with people calling in with trouble finding rooms. “Most of our members either filled or came really close to filling,” she said of the lodgings. “It was extremely
strong and given the rainy forecast there were still lots of people here.” She added that on the heels of covid many business owners did not even mind all of the crowds and vehicles. “It’s really good to see all these people in town, definitely,” she said. “We’re welcoming the traffic.” And while many tourists likely hoped to watch fireworks shows Sunday night, Jones said she heard no reports of anyone picking up and leaving when an unplanned detonation led to the cancelation of the resort’s festivities. “The couple people that did respond to me, the only thing they did say was everybody was happy that nobody was really truly hurt in any major See VISITORS Page 10
By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (July 9, 2021) Visitors who left their vehicles in pay parking lots across Ocean City may need to check their bank statements, as it appears some kiosks were charging customers more than once for a single use. The city uses Flowbird to manage the kiosks at parking lots and up and down streets, where people pay to park while providing their license plate numbers. On Monday, City manager Doug Miller said, people were being charged for a single event, but then the software through Flowbird kept replicating the charge. City officials became aware of the See PARKING Page 3
Assateague mare struck and killed in hit-and-run (July 9, 2021) A four-year-old Assateague mare known as Moonshadow was apparently struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver at Assateague Island National Seashore last week. She was found dead on July 6, by a park employee in the Oceanside Campground of the park, and officials believe she was hit by a passenger vehicle week before. Both she and her foal, known by its file number, N2BHS-CKPT, were likely involved in a low-speed motor vehicle accident along Bayberry Drive. The foal is still lame, officials said, See INJURED Page 10
