OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
JANUARY 22, 2016
LIFESTYLE
HAPPY 70TH ANNIVERSARY OC American Legion Synepuxent Post #166 to celebrate milestone with Jan. 28 event – Page 29
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
FREE
Threats bedevil schools Another bomb call, another evacuation, feds help with probe
MIKE ARBIN PHOTO
In case we forgot, winter issues frozen reminder
It was only a dusting of snow that covered the beach over the weekend, but its aftermath included multiple accidents caused by icy roads and bridges.
Coast given icing penalty
By Greg Ellison Staff Writer (Jan. 22, 2016) Mixed precipitation last weekend provided slippery sidewalks for pedestrians, presented challenging conditions for drivers, and for a brief time shut down the Route 90 Bridge Monday morning. Although the National Weather Service reported that Worcester County re-
ceived .28 inches of rain on Saturday morning, with temperatures reaching a high of 55 degrees, Mother Nature did an about face the following day. On Sunday, snowflakes began falling just before 10 a.m., turning the Eastern Shore into a winter wonderland for the next five hours. Snowfall totals for Sunday reached 1 inch, far below the
By Brian Gilliland Staff Writer (Jan. 22, 2016) Parents, teachers, officials and law enforcement all remained on edge this week as the rash of bomb threats delivered to local and schools across several states continued unabated, forcing a districtwide early dismissal on Friday and another evacuation of See BOMB on Page 3
date’s record of 3.2 inches in 1985. To help complete the icy picture, the county also was hit with 2.6 inches of precipitation. The most rain record in Worcester County on Jan. 17 is 1.71 inches in 2010. State Police Sgt. Bob McQueeney noted that extremely treacherous weather conditions made traveling risky. See ROAD on Page 6
County to do own tax differential study Officials seek detail on which services may be duplicated
By Brian Gilliland Staff Writer (Jan. 22, 2016) Putting aside the self-funded 2013
study Ocean City uses as a benchmark to claim $17 million in duplicated services, the Worcester County government has approved a nearly $30,000 expenditure to fund its own study to determine the nature of any duplicated services between the
resort and surrounding county. The issue isn’t new — the resort has been after a tax differential for at least a decade and has requested one every year in lieu of a grant, which is the county’s preferred method to redis-
tribute tax revenue to municipalities. Last year marked the first change in the discussion in a long time, when Ocean City proposed a graduated increase in the grant amount relative to percentages of reSee TARGETING on Page 5
GREG ELLISON/OCEAN CITY TODAY
Worcester County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Kenneth Parr stands guard at Stephen Decatur High School on Jan. 15 following bomb threats at schools throughout the county.
s sout h moon under
WINTER SALE
UP TO
70% OFF
81S T S T. , O C EA N C I T Y, M D | 1 2 0 R EH HOBOTH AV E., REH OBOTH BEACH , DE | SOU TH MOONUNDE OONUNDE R.COM R .COM