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FEBRUARY 21, 2014
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
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REGIONAL CHAMPS Stephen Decatur girls’ swim team captures second consecutive championship title–Page 25
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Worcester schools to open day after Labor Day, Sept. 2 Move will bump academic calendar four days later
WHAT’S COOKING? Some of the second grade bakers in Angie Bunting’s class at Worcester Prep take a break from their preparations for the 2014 Bread Sale to benefit Atlantic General Hospital. Pictured, from left, Jack Schell, Caleb Collins, Ashling Marshall, Riya Jani, Lebby Becker, Moorea Phillips and Loni Wederbrand.
City signs on with MDE to reduce water byproducts Deputy Director of Public Works. “There are so many variables that go into this. We can’t snap out fingers and make them happen all at once. It’s an issue affecting a lot of jurisdictions across the country.” Disinfection byproducts – referred to as DBPs - are created following the treatment of drinking water, when the leftover treatment chemicals combine with any microscopic organic matter remaining in the water. In most cases, residual chlorine from treatment combines to make trihalomethanes. “There are number of different compounds that are considered trihalomethanes, but they are collectively regulated and referred to as total trihalomethanes or ‘TTHMs’ by the EPA,” Parsons said. Since the Stage Two rule took effect in the fall, the city’s first two quarterly readings for the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 have been See CITY Page 6
OC expected to sign accord providing two-year window to complete improvements
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (Feb. 21, 2014) Despite the presence of some ominous terminology from your sophomore organic chemistry lecture, the upcoming efforts to improve the city’s drinking water are not nearly as scary as they sound. The Town of Ocean City is expected to sign on to an agreement with the Maryland Department of the Environment which will provide a two-year window for the city to finish water treatment improvements, which are expected to bring the town into compliance with the federallymandated Stage Two Disinfection Byproducts Rule. “We actually approached the MDE and said that the Stage Two rule concerns us,” said Jim Parsons, the city’s
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City expected to sign agreement with the Maryland Department of the Environment which will give resort two years to finish improvements.
By Clara Vaughn Staff Writer (Feb. 21, 2014) Worcester County will be the only public school system in Maryland to start classes after Labor Day in the 2014-2015 school year. The decision to start school Sept. 2 came at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, where the board voted against starting classes before the holiday that marks the unofficial end of summer. The move bumps the school calendar four days later, with the last day slated for June 16, 2015. Worcester was the last school district in Maryland to adopt a pre-Labor Day start to the school year in 2009 and the debate over the first day of school has polarized discussions in the five years since. “Over the last three years or so, you started feeling the concern mounting about the decision to go prior to Labor Day,” Board of Education President Bob Rothermel said. “It’s been an ongoing discussion ever since.” In a resort driven by a summer economy, support for the change is strong. Proponents argue that starting school before Labor Day hurts businesses that rely on workers still in high school or employed by the schools and by cutting the vacation season short. “It’s almost un-American to go back to school before Labor Day,” Mayor Rick Meehan said at an Economic Development Committee meeting earlier this month. He argued that more than half of the county schools’ budget comes from the Town of Ocean City and “the more revenue we produce, the more successful we are (and) the more money will be available.” Rothermel added that Worcester County Public Schools is the largest employer in the county “and many of our employees work summer jobs as well.” However, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jerry Wilson favored keepSee WORCESTER Page 7
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