OCTOBER 24, 2024
BERLIN • NORTH WORCESTER COUNTY• OCEAN PINES
FREE
Early voting begins today in Worcester County’s registered voters continue rightward shift as 45% now Republicans
TARA FISCHER/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Ocean Pines Association Board member Jeff Heavner is pictured addressing residents during a town hall meeting with representatives from Republic Services also seated at the center of the room to answer questions.
Trash collection bins downsized Contractor agrees to permit OP customers to use smaller cans instead of heavier ones By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (Oct. 24, 2024) The Ocean Pines trash collection vendor Republic Services is offering residents the option to use smaller bins for depositing household waste after issues arose with the contractor’s transition to larger, heavier cans. Republic Services, the community’s contractor located in Delmar, recently adjusted its waste collection
model to require the utilization of new 95-gallon bins, discontinue the use of resident-owned smaller cans, and mandate that trash stored in Hefty or other plastic bags is not eligible for pick up. Previously, some Ocean Pines citizens elected to use their own small bins for collection days rather than the Republic receptacles. The new regulations recently announced by the vendor initially made it so that using the new 95-gallon cans provided by the contractor, dropped off to households last month, would be the sole option for trash pick-up. Many residents reached out to the
Ocean Pines Association regarding the modifications. Individuals cited a too-heavy and bulky container, complicated for some by physical limitations, and an inability to roll the larger cans over gravel driveways as their primary worries. Others have struggled to properly store and shield the new 95-gallon bins from the front view, a guideline required by the community’s Declarations of Restrictions. As a result, a town hall was held on Friday, Oct. 18, where neighborhood citizens could address their concerns with Republic Services representatives. See CONTRACTOR Page 7
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By Steve Green Executive Editor (Oct. 24, 2024) Based on the last 14 years of data, about one-tenth of Worcester County voters will participate in the state’s early voting opportunity that begins Thursday ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election day. For the presidential general election, early voting across Maryland opens Thursday and runs through Thursday, Oct. 31. In Worcester County, the Roland E. Powell Convention Center is the sole early voting site and will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. On the local election front, the most significant choices before voters have to do with two contested seats for the Worcester County Board of Education. The school board seats representing Districts 3 and 5, respectively, feature incumbents Dr. Jon Andes against Cheryl Middleton and Elena McComas against Dorothy Shelton-Leslie. Andes’s district includes parts of Berlin and West Ocean City and the entirety of South Point, while McComas’s district includes most of the densely populated Ocean Pines community. The school board races are non-partisan so political party affiliation of the respective candidates are not included on the ballot. In Worcester County, there are 42,577 registered voters eligible to let their voices be heard in the general election. Of those, 19,748 (47%) are Republican, while 13,586 are registered Democrats (32%). There are 9,070 unaffiliated, or independent, voters, representing 21% of the county’s electorate. Comparatively, in the 2020 presidential general election, there were 40,665 voters eligible in Worcester See EARLY Page 6
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