Twelve candidates? That could happen in the Ocean Pines board election this year, according to sources familiar with the candidate vetting process. That many candidates vying for just three seats should give property owners the opportunity to do what’s best for the community, assuming that no axe grinding or personal agendas get in the way…. Read more »

Trying to analyze the reasons behind the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors’ vote on General Manager Bob Thompson’s contract extension is an exercise in befuddlement. As his contract was up for renewal, Thompson asked that it be extended for another three years, but without the generous bonus clause that could bring him anywhere between… Read more »

Of all the economic development efforts being directed to mid- and lower Worcester County, nothing will be of greater benefit than the completion of Route 113’s expansion to a four-lane highway. To be sure, making the county’s deadliest highway safer has always been the goal, and Gov. Larry Hogan’s announcement last Friday that funding has… Read more »

One might ask why Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, fresh off a Tuesday victory in New York, would shift gears on his bandwagon and direct it to small- town Berlin. After all, the Republican voter turnout alone in the New York primary was 10 times greater than the total population of Worcester County and a… Read more »

This week marks a major step forward for the Bayside Gazette and Ocean City Today, as the local company that publishes both weekly newspapers begins countywide coverage for readers and advertisers. The Bayside Gazette, which has become the definitive news publication in Ocean Pines and Berlin, is expanding to include the Snow Hill and Pocomoke… Read more »

The comprehensive plan project in Ocean Pines continues to be comprehensively confused, as neither the planning committee nor the board of directors seems to know where this effort is heading. This isn’t anyone’s fault, but is the result of trying to adapt a process required of government entities for use in a community built according… Read more »

Rather than express an all-too-obvious opinion about the inexplicable behavior at this week’s Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors meeting — a circumstance that might be corrected in this year’s election by establishing a better male-female balance on that governing body — we are obligated to look elsewhere for an example of productive teamwork. Nothing… Read more »

The unofficial report this week is that the Worcester County Commissioners canceled this year’s cordial wine-and-dine get-together with the Ocean Pines Board of Directors because they weren’t feeling so cordial after hearing the community’s surprising request for much more county financial support that what it normally receives every year. The official report, meanwhile, is the… Read more »

­­It’s rare in these tumultuous times that news comes out of Washington that doesn’t generate a divided response from the public, but that was the case with the announcement Tuesday by the Department of the Interior that offshore exploration for oil will not be taking place in the southeastern section of the Atlantic Ocean. When… Read more »

Ocean Pines Association General Manager Bob Thompson made a good point in the association’s request last week for a major increase in the amount of money Worcester County government gives it in the county’s annual allocation to communities. Of the five major residential areas — Pocomoke, Snow Hill, Berlin, Ocean City, and Ocean Pines, the… Read more »