OC Today-Dispatch DECEMBER 26, 2025
PRICELESS
STUBBORNLY LOCAL, EQUALLY INDEPENDENT
Year in Review
Sign up now for our new, Monday-Friday newsletter. — Page XX
Top 10 Stories Page 3
OC Today-Dispatch DECEMBER 26, 2025
Year in Review
Sign up now for our new, Monday-Friday newsletter. — Page XX
PRICELESS
STUBBORNLY LOCAL, EQUALLY INDEPENDENT
Top 10 Stories Page 3
OC Today-Dispatch
Sign up now for our new, Monday-Friday newsletter. — Page XX
DECEMBER 26, 2025 PRICELESS
STUBBORNLY LOCAL, EQUALLY INDEPENDENT
Year in Review
Top 10 Stories Page 3
OC Today-Dispatch
Sign up now for our new, Monday-Friday newsletter. — Page XX
DECEMBER 26, 2025 STUBBORNLY LOCAL, EQUALLY INDEPENDENT
Year in Review
PRICELESS
Top 10 Stories Page 3
PAGE 2
OC Today-Dispatch
DECEMBER 26, 2025
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OC Today-Dispatch
Newsroom review: OC area’s ‘Top 10’ stories of the year By Steve Green Executive Editor (Dec. 26, 2025) Throughout 2025, nearly 1,200 news articles were printed on the pages of this newspaper. Here is our newsroom’s “Top 10” stories of the year for our area. Readers will find a year in review through photos in the rest of the paper. 1. Rental regs controversy Ocean City spent the early part of 2025 discussing ways to regulate shortterm rentals in the R-1 and MH districts. An approved ordinance was subsequently petitioned to referendum. In July, Ocean City voters by a 34-person margin rejected the ordinance that created a five-night minimum length of stay and eventually a ban on short-term rentals in the stated districts. Months after the vote, Ocean City approved the extension of the existing short-term rental license moratorium in R-1 and MH zones. The year ended with the same group that challenged the previous ordinance working on a new petition drive, which needs 990 valid signatures to challenge an extension of a moratorium on new STR licenses in the R-1 and MH districts. The deadline is Jan. 20. 2. Fourth of July chaos in OC A “takeover” event created on social media ruined the Fourth of July weekend in Ocean City. National headlines were made after a group of individuals reportedly set off fireworks, causing a stampede on the Boardwalk. A video of the chaos surpassed 1.5 million views on the newspaper’s social media account and was shared by 40-plus media outlets. Veteran business owners on the Boardwalk reported never seeing any-
thing like in it their decades of operation. An actual shooting did take place on 28th Street with an individual hospitalized. The victim did not cooperate, and no arrests were made in the incidents. 3. Tram service ended About 12 months after a 2-year-old was killed on the Boardwalk, the Town of Ocean City officially ended the Boardwalk Tram service in October. A $400,000 settlement agreement between the toddler’s family and the city was inked in 2025 as well. A probe of the fatality found numerous problems with the city’s tram equipment including violations of state motor vehicle regulations. 4. Offshore wind in limbo President Trump immediately began the year with an Executive Order attempting to derail all existing offshore wind projects, including US Wind’s efforts off Ocean City. Ocean City and several private businesses have legal actions filed against the federal government. Most of the year has been spent with attorneys for both sides arguing their cases to keep the project going and vice versa. 5. Man jailed in Knupp death Three years after 14-year-old Gavin Knupp was struck and killed by a vehicle, the motorist was sentenced in March. Tyler Mailloux, 25, pleaded guilty in February to the felony count of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail with all but 18 months suspended. Mailloux also received three years’ probation and will have to complete 400 hours of community service within the first year of release. 6. AGH, TidalHealth merge After about nine months of behindSee 2025 Page 6
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