To expand or not to expand facilities in Ocean Pines to serve the public beyond the needs of the community is one of the key questions the homeowners association’s long-term plan and its town meetings needs to address. Problem is, a simple yes or no answer won’t suffice. While there will be both detractors and… Read more »
Editorial
Berlin’s agenda all about moving ahead
Some critics, wherever they are, might say that the Town of Berlin is doing too much too quickly, what with it poised to approve a significant increase in housing on the edge of town and the conversion of the former Tyson Foods property into a major recreation facility. Add to that its consideration of a… Read more »
Health Literacy on rise in county schools
Based on recent findings by University of Maryland’s Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy (UM), there was a statistically significant increase in health literacy among students in Worcester County Public Schools who took part in the Integrated Health Literacy Program (IHLP) during the 2014-2015 school year. The student’s overall health literacy – or the… Read more »
Town, BFC should settle
Although the sorry tale of the Berlin Fire Company, Zack Tyndall and the Town of Berlin has long since vanished from the headlines, it now appears to be a case closed forever. With a settlement reached in Tyndall’s harassment suit against the company and others, that aspect of this unfortunate situation has been concluded, but… Read more »
Development needs limit
Few, if any, people would want to block the Rinnier Development Company’s 700-plus-townhome complex on Seahawk Road, as it would help maintain the economic balance and vitality that is necessary to Berlin’s success. As Mayor Gee Williams observed this week, the town does not want to become so exclusive that only the upper middle class… Read more »
Question of fees good one
As the topic of adjusting or adding fees for nonmembers surfaced in the most recent Ocean Pines Association board meeting, the point to think about is that charging nonmembers a higher price for access to recreational facilities can be a tricky business. That’s because it’s a balancing act with three pivot points: fairness, revenue and… Read more »
FIddler’s, an unlikely hit, became an enduring one
Twenty-five years ago, Berlin businessman and then County Commissioner Jim Barrett had an idea about how to add a little life to what was then a mostly quiet downtown. Why not, he wondered, have a fiddling competition such as the one he had just seen in Elkins, Va.? Throw in some bluegrass-style entertainment, pile some… Read more »
As it turns out, we are ‘urban’ after all
The question, it would seem, is why the new "Urban Area, Stay Alert" traffic sign on the highway in Berlin employs the word "urban, when it’s obvious that Berlin is hardly an urban area. Or is it? First, though, as Mayor Gee Williams said regarding that particular sign language, he doesn’t care what it says… Read more »
In this instance, it’s OK to color outside the lines
Worcester County’s Habitat for Humanity is taking a bold and non-traditional step with its plan to develop a housing project geared toward artists. Although Habitat’s purpose generally is to provide reasonable and affordable housing for families, its proposed 6,000-square foot complex adheres to the nonprofit organization’s principles while also taking an entrepreneurial step that is… Read more »
Non-meeting no big deal
The supposedly secret organizational meeting that didn’t happen in Ocean Pines last week before the full OPA board of directors met on Monday isn’t as big a deal as the subsequent mini uproar would suggest. It might, at first blush, sound surreptitious on the part of directors Tom Terry and Pat Renaud, who tried and… Read more »