OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
MAY 29, 2015
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Teachers ‘walk in’ in protest
LISA CAPITELLI/OCEAN CITY TODAY
GOOD SIGNS Ocean City restaurants, retail shops and other businesses, the beach and Boardwalk, pictured here Sunday, saw large crowds during the Memorial Day weekend as an estimated 250,000 people were in town. “If this weekend was any indication of what summer will be like then I think we will have an outstanding summer ahead,” said Jessica Waters, communications manager for the Town of Ocean City. See story on Page 6.
By Brian Gilliland Staff Writer (May 29, 2015) While nothing will be finalized until the Worcester County Commissioners formally adopt their 2016 budget next week, reaction has been strong to their plan to eliminate funding for mid-year cost-of-living adjustments for teachers, let alone the step increases called for in the contract between the Board of Education and the Worcester County Teacher’s Association. On Wednesday morning, about 45 teachers at Stephen Decatur High School staged a “walk in,” where they ceremonially entered the school together at the required time of 7:45 a.m. and planned to walk out in the same fashion at dismissal time, according to Beth Shockley-Lynch, president of the teachers’ union. Shockley-Lynch said a similar plan had emerged at Buckingham Elementary School, and stressed that the See EDUCATORS Page 5
Lifeguards hit in Craigslist rental scam Criminal impersonating local realtor swindles $7K out of Canadian workers
By Kara Hallissey Staff Writer (May 29, 2015) Picture this: driving about 600 miles from Montreal, Canada to Ocean City for a job on the Ocean City Beach Patrol, rolling up to the condominium that had already been paid for via an Internet rental company and then finding that the condominium had been gutted and is unlivable. Worse still, the rental company responsible for all this apparently does not exist. This is what happened to Beach
Patrol members Sunday night, when a summer housing ad placed on Craigslist by “Ocean City Vacation Rentals Management” turned out to be a scam that cost them $7,000 and their housing for the summer. Youcef Belrachid was distraught on Tuesday as he wondered where he would be sleeping after his lifeguarding shift ended. “I have no money to make a deposit on another place and we pay a $1,000 Visa to come here. I love this job. We come back every summer because we love it and to be scammed is a shame,” he said. Belrachid, along with his brother Rahym, and friends Aude LemaireHamel and Adam Bielawski, were all See REALTORS Page 4
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Ocean City Today
PAGE 2
MAY 29, 2015
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Ocean City Today
MAY 29, 2015
PAGE 3
Distracted skateboarder breaks woman’s hip Lyn Pilcicki, 73, hit from behind crossing Boardwalk, faces long recovery time
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (May 29, 2015) When most people hear about a serious collision in Ocean City, they think pedestrian vs. automobile. But last week marked the first instance of a major injury, at least in recent memory, from a skateboard-on-pedestrian accident. On Wednesday, May 20, at roughly 2:45 p.m., local homeowner Lyn Pilcicki was struck by a skateboarder on the Boardwalk, breaking her hip. The skater, who Pilcicki identified as a 21-year-old Berlin man, ran into
Fatal accident in Worcester County Monday morning
By Kara Hallissey Staff Writer (May 29, 2015) An Elkridge, Md. man was killed Monday morning in a one-car crash on the Route 90 ramp, Maryland State Police at the Berlin Barrack reported. Police said a preliminary investigation showed that the car being driven by Travis Irving, 32, left the road and struck a tree. The vehicle came to a rest, but Irving did not have his seatbelt on and was ejected from his car. Irving was the sole occupant of the car and was pronounced dead upon arrival of medical personnel. His family was notified and Irving’s body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy. The area was closed for about two hours after the collision with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Berlin Fire Department and Maryland State Highway administration all assisting.
Ocean City Today Business ..................................35 Calendar ..................................71 Commentary..............................93 Classifieds ................................74 Entertainment ..........................58 Lifestyle ....................................49 Obituaries ................................31 Public notices ..........................77 Sports ......................................41 News: editor@oceancitytoday.net Sales: sales@oceancitytoday.net Classifieds: classifieds@oceancitytoday.net Phone: 410-723-6397 Visit us on the Web at www.oceancitytoday.net and at Facebook/Ocean City Today Published Fridays by FLAG Publications, Inc. 8200 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, Md. 21842 P.O. Box 3500, Ocean City, Md. 21843 Available by subscription at $150 a year.
her as she crossed the boards from a french fry stand to the bench where her husband was seated. “Apparently [the skater] had been looking into the arcade as he went by, and when he looked forward, there I was,” Pilcicki said. “It wasn’t just the board that hit me, it was his whole body. I went flying through the air and came down on my hip.” Ocean City police officers and EMS arrived on the scene, and Pilcicki was taken to Atlantic General Hospital. At age 73, she faces a difficult recovery. Ocean City Police Department Public Information Officer Lindsay Richard confirmed that officers had rendered aid and taken a report, but that the skater had not committed an actual offense. “While it is very unfortunate that this resulted in a serious injury, there
is no charge where we can issue tickets for reckless skateboarding or bicycling,” Richard said. The skater stayed on the scene and was very apologetic, Pilcicki noted. Had Pilcicki been on the Boardwalk three days later, she may have been safe. Beginning the Saturday before Memorial Day, and ending after Labor Day, bicycles, skateboards, and similar conveyances are allowed on the boards only from 2 a.m. to 11 a.m. Or, if Pilcicki had been on the boards the same day, but three years ago, she would’ve also avoided the accident. Skateboards were previously banned from the Boardwalk at any time, but the city changed that policy in the fall of 2012 to allow skateboards simultaneously with bicycles. Although an isolated incident, Pilcicki said she was surprised that
skateboards were allowed that late in the year. “As far as I’m concerned, nobody should’ve been skateboarding,” Pilcicki said. “There’s too much potential for something to happen. If I had been a little kid, I could’ve been killed.” Pilcicki and her husband live in Solomons, Md., but own a condo in Ocean City where they stay for several weeks during the summer. While many of the city’s summertime use restrictions run Memorial Day to Labor Day, others begin earlier in the season. Dogs, for instance, are banned from the Boardwalk starting May 1. Earlier this year, a request from the Ocean City Development Corporation to allow dogs later into the season was denied by the city’s police commission, citing overcrowding issues.
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