GOLF CHAMPIONS:
O.C.TOBERFEST:
Stephen Decatur squad captures its second District VIII title, while Worcester Prep wins its 7th ESIAC crown ... PAGE 30A
Beach maze, Howl-O-Ween costumed pet parade and the Great Pumpkin Race planned in resort’s downtown area ... PAGE 1B
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Ocean City Today BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . . 1C CLASSIFIED . . . . . . . . . . 5C ENTERTAINMENT . . . . . . 5B LEGALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7C
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MAKING STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER 5K RUN/WALK SATURDAY IN OC ... 1B
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OCTOBER 18, 2013
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Tourism evaluation proposed Would determine what Ocean City has, where it wants to go from here ZACK HOOPES Staff Writer
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR
OCEAN CITY TODAY/NANCY POWELL
Carmella Doppelheuer of Ocean City gets a free flu shot at Atlantic General Hospital on Wednesday from Wor-Wic Community College nursing student Lauren Joseph. Nursing student David Hearn is at right.
It’s your bed, but you can’t lay (or sit) in it Riding in backs of pickup trucks could be outlawed on OC’s roads, highways ZACK HOOPES Staff Writer
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(Oct. 18, 2013) A new traffic ordinance, introduced recently to the city’s Police Commission, could erase one of the most recognizable signs of June in the resort. For many years, participants in the customary post-graduation “Senior Week” have enjoyed cruising Coastal Highway in the backs of pickup trucks, sometimes sitting in lawn chairs or
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even lining the bed with a tarp to make a mobile swimming pool. But as with all of western civilization’s great traditions – such as child labor, public execution, or excessively large sodas – there comes a time when government steps in to protect people from their own bad ideas. “I think [the ordinance] stays in step with the state and what I interpret as their desire to keep passengers belted and safer,” said Lt. Scott Harner, the Ocean City Police Department’s head of traffic enforcement. “It doesn’t take a collision reconstructionist to tell you what’s going to happen if a truck full of kids has to stop suddenly.” New state traffic laws, which went into effect the first of this
2999 See FINE on Page 5A
(Oct. 18, 2013) Ocean City government could soon be ready to solicit bidders to conduct a strategic tourism study, a long-awaited project whose urgency was highlighted this week amidst the apparent divide in the resort’s business community, and debate over who should be involved in the subsequent discussion. “Given the significance of the initiative, we should go to RFP now to find the right facilitator,” said City Manager David Recor. “In the meantime, we need to identify our stakeholders.” What exactly such a study would entail was itself a matter of discussion, but would in theory provide a definitive answer as to where the city’s sole industry is heading, what sort of crowds it wants, and how it’s going to get them here. “You still have a lack of consensus,” said Greg Shockley, owner of the Shoreham Hotel and Shenanigan’s Bar & Grill, at this week’s Tourism Commission meeting. “That’s what you need to figure out, is who you want involved in the process.” Shockley, as part of the state’s tourism commission, was an integral See TOURISM on Page 4A
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