OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
MAY 4, 2018
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
SPRINGFEST Goodbye, winter, and hello spring. It’s time to celebrate at the inlet parking lot and a weekend of food, fun and music. Page 26
FREE
SHA promise: we’ll be done by Mem. Day It may not look like it now, but all work on Coastal Highway nears completion
LISA CAPITELLI/OCEAN CITY TODAY
FLYING UNITED The wind was ideal last weekend as colorful kites fill the sky during the 24th annual Maryland International Kite Exposition, hosted by the Kite Loft in downtown Ocean City.
County workers victims of identity theft By Brian Gilliland Associate Editor (May 4, 2018) Over the past month, some county employees have received a shock at their mailboxes: notices that unpaid bills in their names for Comcast cable services had been sent to collections, potentially damaging their credit scores. No county property, assets or information are, at this time, suspected to have been compromised. “There is no indication of a breach in our security,” County Administrator Harold Higgins said. “We’re just trying to protect our employees.” Besides their place of employment, there does not seem to be any other connections between the victims,
HAPPY HOUR NIGHTLY 4-6
Kim Moses, county public information officer, said. Moses said the county had become aware of the situation in late March or early April, and a notice was delivered to employees on April 3. The notice recommended each employee view their credit reports to see if fraudulent charges had been incurred under their names. American citizens are entitled to a free annual credit score report from each of the top three reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. The Federal Trade Commission states the only website authorized by it to provide these credit scores is www.annualcreditreport.com.
When additional accounts surfaced in response to the notice, the Sheriff’s Office was brought in to investigate. Lt. Ed Schreier, Sheriff’s Office public information officer, confirmed the investigation is ongoing, and recommended everyone request an annual copy of their credit reports. Thousands upon thousands of cases of identity theft and fraud involving bogus Comcast accounts have occurred throughout the country for the past several years. Currently pending in federal court in California is a class action suit that alleges that Comcast failed to take the necessary steps to verify the identities of customers before opening an account.
410-524-1000 • 118th Street & The Beach
By Greg Ellison Staff Writer (May 4, 2018) Ending projects by Memorial Day was a recurring theme during the State Highway Administration’s spring update for the City Council on Tuesday. Jay Meredith, state highway district one engineer, opened a lengthy review of current and proposed projects by immediately turning the microphone over to Brett Beane, assistant district engineer of construction, for the latest information on median and paving work on Coastal Highway between 26th and 62nd streets. “We’re still on track for the Memorial Day deadline,” Beane said. “We’re going to move heaven and earth if need be to do this.” Tandem crews will begin laying new paving on Monday, Beane said. “If we have to work long hours [or] See MEDIAN Page 85
BURGER AND BREW NIGHT EVERY FRIDAY
We’ve moved things around After more than 10 years of doing things the same old way, we decided this week that we could improve the front-toback content of Ocean City Today by moving certain features to different locations. The editorial pages, for instance, now appear closer to the middle, while we brought the Lifestyle section farther forward, added more news behind that and classifieds and placed sports on our final pages. Be sure to check the index on page 3 to find your favorite features easily.
1/2-Lb. Burger Combo And A Cold Draft Beer $10