Continued from

OC Today

WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM

OC Today and Bayside Gazette will be closed Friday, Dec. 24. The office will reopen Monday, Dec. 27

DECEMBER 24, 2021 SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY FREE

By Mallory Panhuska Staff Writer

As the sun set earlier this week on the shortest day of the year, a woman walked deliberately around the side of the shuttered Phillips Crab House property on 21st Street, shooting photos with a small digital camera.

She looked up at one point, a touch of melancholy in her eyes, and simply said, “Isn’t it sad?”

Lines form outside the late 1950s version of the Crab House.

The woman was undoubtedly one of the thousands, possibly millions, who heard the big news that broke a day earlier: Phillips’ flagship Crab House in Ocean City had been listed for sale and was closing its doors for good.

“It’s the end of an era,” said retired Court of Appeals Judge Dale Cathell, the Ocean Pines author of “Empires of the Crab,” a 2004 homSee THE PHILLIPS Page 4

Council balks at demand by body cam rep

He wants approval before City Hall can review contract

By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (Dec. 24, 2021) Ocean City Council members were asked on Monday to approve a $2.5 million deal by Dec. 31 to outfit the resort’s police force with body cameras, but with no contract put before them to read, the council is not likely to approve anything by the end of the year.

State legislators passed the “Maryland Police Accountability Act” in 2021, which requires all police officers in the ‘We haven’t seen a state to be contract. I can’t equipped with vote on a contract body cameras I haven’t seen.’ by 2025. After a Councilman string of inci- John Gehrig dents in the resort over the past couple of years, including this past June when one black man was tased on the Boardwalk by officers despite appearing to be taking off his backpack, and another where an officer rammed his knee into the chest of another black man, Mayor Rick Meehan and Police Chief Ross Buzzuro have pushed to get the cameras in place well before the deadline.

The department is expected to have body cameras on all 116 of its full-time officers as well as seasonal officers and public safety aids by next summer.

For the past three months, Buzzuro and his department have tested cameras from three different vendors, and on Monday, he was ready to present the council with a contract for approval. But though the offer was presented, an actual contract was not.

“Of the three vendors, one stood out and that was Axon,” the chief said, noting that nearly all law enforcement See CAMERA Page 8

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan will host an open house and concert at the performing arts center on 40th Street on New Year’s Day to kick off 2022. This year, New York-based Motown group, The Priceless Band, will perform during the event.

Mayor will host New Year’s party at convention center

By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (Dec. 24, 2021) Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan plans to kick off 2022 with an open house and concert at the Performing Arts Center in the convention center at 40th Street on New Year’s Day.

The concept of the open house is nothing new, former mayor Jim Mathias used to host the Mayor’s Open House at city hall.

This week, Meehan said when he became mayor, he continued Mathias’s tradition for a couple of years until eventually giving it a different approach.

“With the advent of the performing arts center … [we wanted] to enhance the event and maybe offer entertainment and something that would appeal to a larger audience,” he said. “So, we moved the event to the convention center and to the Performing Arts Center. That’s been very successful.”

This year, the event will feature The Priceless Band, a Motown band out of New York started by Saundra Price, also known as Priceless.

The band will play tributes from artists like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Beyoncé, and Rihanna.

“They’re fabulous,” Meehan said. “They’re going to rock the Performing Arts Center, I promise.”

Unlike previous years, the event will not include booths setup by vendors and organizations like Ocean City Development Corporation.

The mayor said he hopes to have vendors back next year.

Another change this year is the event will start at 4 p.m. instead of 1 p.m.

“That way, if someone wants to go to the Penguin Swim, they can go to See NEW YEAR’S Page 11

As members of the MarylandDelaware-D.C. Press Association, we subscribe to the following code of ethics:

• Seek the truth and report it. • Minimize harm.

Treat sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public with respect. • Act Independently.

The primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public. • Be Accountable and Transparent.

Reporters must take responsibility for the accuracy of their work and respond quickly to questions about accuracy, clarity and fairness.

Ocean City Today

Calendar..........................33 Classifieds........................37 Commentary....................43 Crossword Puzzle..............36 Entertainment..................31 Obituaries........................47 Public Notices..................40 Service Directory..............38 Sports..............................49

Editor: sdobson@oceancitytoday.net

News: editor@oceancitytoday.net

Sales: sales@oceancitytoday.net Classifieds: classifieds@oceancitytoday.net Phone: 410-723-6397

www.oceancitytoday.com and at Facebook/Ocean City Today Published Fridays by FLAG Publications, Inc. 11934 Ocean Gateway, Suite 6, Ocean City, Md. 21842 Available by subscription at $150 a year.