OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
SEPTEMBER 11, 2020
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
POLITICS
NEW MAYOR IN POCOMOKE Susan Harrison is the first woman elected to the position; took office on Aug. 18 – Page 22
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Pop-ups will find cops upped Police, city officials say OC won’t be messing around this time with car craziness By Josh Kim Staff Writer (Sept. 11, 2020) People looking to spend the third week of September in Ocean City might want to rethink that idea, as local law enforcement will be
attempting to squeeze a probable small car rally into submission by making vehicular travel as inhospitable as possible. Resort police officials last week advised visitors and residents stay away or remain that week, as they plan to reconfigure roadways and traffic patterns dramatically, and to increase enforcement to face off with modified and foreign car enthusiasts who use
the resort every year as their personal playground. “If you … don’t have business in town, you don’t need to be in town,” Police Chief Ross Buzzuro said after the Ocean City Motor Task Force met last Friday to discuss updates from its July session. The week of Sept. 22-26, the city will be declared a Special Event Zone, which allows resort officials to reduce
speed limits and increase fines during motor events. This year, the Special Event Zone was strengthened after the General Assembly passed the exhibition driving bill, which prohibits and increases fines for exhibition driving. Exhibition driving is defined as “the transportation of a passenger on (or in) an area of a motor vehicle that See OCEAN Page 2
Positivity rate declines after leading state Worcester’s test results had been worst, but subsided
JOSH KIM/OCEAN CITY TODAY
Ocean City was packed last weekend for Labor Day, a pleasant surprise for hoteliers, restaurateurs and vendors.
Labor Day brings relief to businesses By Josh Kim Staff Writer (Sept. 11, 2020) Ocean City closed out a summer unlike any other on Monday, and, despite all of the havoc 2020 has wrought, local shopkeepers, restaurants, hoteliers and the Ocean City Beach Patrol said this Labor Day weekend was a great finale. Facemasks were a must this year,
after Mayor Rick Meehan extended his Boardwalk mask mandate, which expired last Monday, during Tuesday’s City Council work session. “This weekend was fantastic,” said Susan Jones, Ocean City HotelMotel-Restaurant Association executive director. “Holiday weekends typically are very weather dependent, so the stellar weather provided the perfect backdrop for wrapping up the
summer.” Jones said almost all 120 members of the association reported full or nearly full bookings this past weekend. She added that, based on personal observation, condominium parking lots were also looking full. Michael James, managing partner of the Carousel Group, said the See LABOR Page 4
By Elizabeth Bonin Staff Writer (Sept. 11, 2020) Not for the first time, Worcester County has recently recorded the highest positivity rate for coronavirus cases of all Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions. On Sunday, Sept. 6, Worcester had a seven-day positivity rate of 7.58 percent, more than double the state’s rate of 3.63 percent at that same time. As of Wednesday, Worcester’s rate had dropped to 5.78 percent, which is the second-highest rate in Maryland behind Caroline County. The state rate has increased slightly to 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University has reported a state positivity rate of around six percent. Its Covid-19 Testing Insights Initiative relies on data from the Covid Tracking Project, a volunteer tracking organization from The Atlantic. This differs from the health department positivity rate because Johns Hopkins eliminates duplicate tests. This week, 64 new cases were conSee COUNTY’S Page 5