School funding critical Editor, Since the past year when the county commissioners voted to fund the WCPS BOE at maintenance of effort (MOE), I’ve heard and seen a lot of statements that are often out of context, lack factual information, and often imply impropriety. These statements have been made by several Worcester County Commissioners, as… Read more »
Editorial
Berlin would benefit from design guidelines
The Berlin Planning Commission’s extended discussion last week on the appearance of the Wawa proposed for the northern side of town showed just how frustrating these deliberations can be for both the developer and the commission. Clearly, they both could use help in determining issues involving architectural aesthetics, what with commission members unable to define… Read more »
Pickleball subsidizes other racket sports
Look up “pickleball” and “passion” on the internet and the results will fill the computer screen, as this “anyone-can-play” sport doesn’t just have enthusiasts and eager participants, its ranks are increasingly populated by fervent disciples and followers. That’s why the pickleballers’ protests at last week’s town meeting on the Ocean Pines Association’s proposed budget and… Read more »
Tyndall wasn’t wrong, but should seek more
You can’t blame a guy for trying. At least that’s how Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall might feel after attempting to unite the county’s towns and Ocean Pines in asking the county commissioners for more money for the fiscal year ahead. Tyndall’s strategy was to convince the other jurisdictions to make a unified pitch for $500,000… Read more »
Data breaches rising, so take extra caution
The internet is not your friend. No matter how much we depend on it for communication, shopping, research, data transfers and other seemingly benign uses, it remains a soulless network of wires, signals, servers and switches that is capable of improving our lives or ruining them. It is both a front door to the world… Read more »
Housing woes driving solicitations to sell
Having people knocking your door down to buy your property might sound like a good problem to have, especially if the price exceeds your expectations. But as tantalizing as some of these offers might be, accepting them means having to find another place to live at a price that the sales proceeds will allow. In… Read more »
Berlin should protect its trees, but carefully
Berlin should protect its trees, but carefully I think that I shall never see. A poem lovely as a tree … So wrote American poet Joyce Kilmer in February 1913, as he reportedly looked out the window at his wooded lawn. This poem, which has been criticized as too simple and has been parodied endlessly,… Read more »
Affordable housing needs attention too
As the Town of Berlin joins Ocean City’s pursuit of a major sports complex in northern Worcester County, it also needs to help provide an answer to the continuously overlooked question of where the employees of a sports complex and its service providers will live. Although this athletic facility is not expected to employ a… Read more »
Commissioners facing business-friendly test
With the state’s reassessment of property values in the Ocean City tax area this year, the public will get to see just how business-friendly the Worcester County Commissioners are. The stunning spike in valuations — a 47.7 percent increase for residential properties and 32.5 percent for commercial real estate — offers mouth-watering financial possibilities for… Read more »
Letter to the Editor
The following is a letter that Ocean City resident Vince Gisriel recently sent to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore regarding a proposed sports complex in Worcester County. The letter references another letter Gisriel sent to members of the Ocean City Sports Complex Task Force opposing the project. Dear Governor Moore, Enclosed you will find a… Read more »