Ten years ago, it was a nice gesture and a source of pride. After all, proponents and boosters had worked hard, raised some money and saw to the installation of a nice park area near the South Gate in Ocean Pines.  Now, the Worcester County Veterans Memorial is something else entirely. Since that comparatively inauspicious… Read more »

There’s something about the public funding of arenas, stadiums and other significant venues that seems just plain wrong, considering that private enterprise is often among the principle beneficiaries of these facilities. It is, in some cases, no different than erecting a building for any commercial operation and justifying it by saying the business it generates… Read more »

It’s a sad state of affairs indeed when local law enforcement agencies are called on to help quell violence in any jurisdiction other than their own, and it’s even more unsettling when they are needed in a metropolitan area. This isn’t to suggest that our police aren’t capable of doing the job if called upon…. Read more »

Zoning fights such as the one taking place in Berlin between the developers of a would-be Dollar General on Old Ocean City Boulevard and the town’s Planning Commission, almost always end badly for one party or the other. Although that would seem to be stating the obvious, the issue in such cases is not just… Read more »

The firestorm over an Ocean Pines resident’s application to operate a gun sales business out of his home is now over as the county application for a zoning variance was withdrawn last week. While guns in homes are an emotional trigger for some, the real issue here was whether county and OPA regulations for home-based… Read more »

Oh, to live and budget in the Town of Berlin, which is one of the few places these days where government budgeting it not the jaw-clinching process it has become elsewhere. Locally, both Ocean City and Worcester County governments are staring at dreary revenue forecasts that don’t support all their financial commitments, much less all… Read more »

 Despite the occasional wisecracks and flip observations about Ocean Pines politics, the community does more than most jurisdictions in the region to involve its citizens in the political process. While it’s been observed frequently over the years that the members of various boards of directors haven’t gotten along that well with each other, the only… Read more »

To grow or not to grow, that is the question just about every prosperous community asks itself at one time or another, as residents and officials debate the question of how much success is too much. What makes that question so arguable, as the Berlin Town Council demonstrated Monday, is that there isn’t any clear… Read more »

And that, as they say, is that, which is this case with the Ocean Pines Association budget. After several weeks of quarreling over whether to increase or decrease assessments, which company should manage the golf course and whether General Manager Bob Thompson was out of line when he criticized the board for its golf course… Read more »

Maybe what the Town of Berlin and the Berlin Fire Company need to do is hire a mediator to sort out the conflict between the two. The issue, after all, has gone beyond who is right and who is wrong and has become a matter of how to repair the relationship for the benefit of… Read more »