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FEBRUARY 24, 2023
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
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Restaurant industry fights tip credit bill Measures would eliminate minimum wage calculation using tips plus hourly rate By Jack Chavez Staff Writer (Feb. 24, 2023) A dual-filed bill making the rounds in the Maryland General Assembly could have lasting effects on the Ocean City hospitality industry and whether patrons will continue to tip their servers. The bills — SB803 and HB1256 — seek to eliminate the tip credit that allows employers to apply a portion of an employee’s tip total to their hourly rate to reach the standard minimum wage level. They would do this by ending the $3.63 rate tipped employees now receive by installing a $15 minimum wage in 2027.
The minimum wage in Maryland is $13.25 per hour right now and is set to reach $15 per hour in 2025. “We are absolutely opposed to this,” said Susan Jones, executive director of the Ocean City Hotel-MotelRestaurant Association. “For several reasons … Primarily, because the restaurant industry has certainly had a lot of disruptions to how it does business over the last couple of years. This will just continue the disruptions. Really, what it’s forcing restaurants to do is go (further toward) technology and prepared foods like pre-made entrees and salads (which could) eliminate (the positions that prepare those items). All this legislation continuously thrown at them are really means to find ways to do things with fewer employees.” See RESTAURANT Page 4
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Wanna buy an ice rink? PHOTO COURTESY CLAY POLLARD
Fire rages in a home at 116 Seafarer Lane in Ocean Pines, claiming the life of its occupant.
Fatal house fire in OP Eight companies provide assistance to Pines dept. By Cindy Hoffman Staff Writer (Feb. 24,2023) The house fire that erupted at 116 Seafarer Lane in Ocean Pines Tuesday night resulted in the death of the occupant, Timothy Jay Cooper, 62, and injuries to three firefighters.
According to Joe Enste, public information officer for Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department, Cooper’s spouse was not home at the time of the fire. Neighbor Clay Pollard, who spotted the fire and called 911, said, “I went out to check the mail. I walked out in front of my house and saw a red glow and I looked up and said to See MAN Page 23
By Jack Chavez Staff Writer (Feb. 24, 2023) The new Worcester County Commissioners majority will not be deterred in its intent to sell the county’s portable ice rink. In a 4-3 vote, the commissioners agreed to put the rink out for bid to sell it outright through a sealed bid process. While the intention behind the selling the ice rink is to recoup as much money as possible from what the majority of commissioners — Chip Bertino, Jim Bunting, Caryn Abbott and Eric Fiori — consider a failed county venture, the county will be able to choose to whom the rink is sold.
Commissioners Joe Mitrecic, Diana Purnell and Ted Elder opposed the measure. The vote came on the heels of a last-ditch effort from Mitrecic to collect narrative proposals from Worcester County entities to whom the county might donate the rink. “This rink was paid for by the citizens of Worcester County,” Mitrecic reasoned. “It should be used by the citizens of Worcester County. (I’d like to see us) accept a narrative of what these people interested in (the county) would do with it, how they’d utilize it and figure out the best use moving forward and donate to them.” Bertino said that the taxpayers See COUNTY Page 4