Donald Wittkowski

At low tide, Pam and Chris Pippett know that their 24-foot boat isn’t going anywhere because it is literally trapped in the mud at their bayfront home. They also know that once they get their boat out on the water, they have to head home within two hours of low tide or risk not being able to get back through the shallow lagoon. “That’s our boat slip – absolutely stuck in the mud,” Pam Pippett said while showing a cellphone photo of the lagoon, known as Carnival Bayou...

Alas, not all ghost stories end up with ghosts in them. Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango, of “Ghost Hunters” TV fame, recalled one time when they investigated some alleged paranormal activity on board the old Queen Mary luxury liner harbored in Long Beach, Calif. One woman on the ship told them that she kept hearing “ghostly music” emanating from somewhere on the enormous vessel...

Tony Polcini, owner of Tony P’s House of Pie, knew that Ocean City’s Boardwalk reconstruction project would eventually reach his doorstep. Monday was that day. On an overcast morning punctuated by light rain, a chain-link fence, barriers and orange signs saying “Boardwalk closed” went up in front of his pizzeria. A giant excavator, dump trucks and construction workers wearing hard hats arrived on the scene, too...

Hope Aita, a 14-year-old girl who comes from a family of doctors, wants to be remembered some day as the person who discovers the cure for breast cancer. For now, though, her claim to fame will be as the newly crowned 2018 Junior Miss Ocean City. The eighth-grader from Newtown, Pa., beat out 19 other contestants to capture the title Saturday night during the 12th edition of the Junior Miss Ocean City Pageant at the Music Pier. “I’m in shock,” Aita said minutes after she was crowned by 2017 Junior Miss Ocean City Stella Schwartz...

Over the strenuous objections of two of its members, City Council approved a financial package Thursday night to possibly buy an empty commercial building that Mayor Jay Gillian and others envision as the centerpiece of a bayfront revitalization plan. Capping a tense Council discussion, the governing body voted 5-2 in favor of a $700,000 funding ordinance that represents the first step toward acquiring the two-story structure known as 50 Tennessee Avenue...

A proposed all-suite boutique hotel that languished on the drawing board while the economy remained sluggish for several years was granted final approval Wednesday night by Ocean City planners. Called the North Island Inn, the 15-unit complex is planned at the corner of 10th Street and Ocean Avenue and would join a cluster of hotels in the same area owned by the project’s developer, Anthony J. Frank, and his family.,,

The barrier of protective dunes that runs along Beach Road in Ocean City’s north end has no gaps in it – except for a curious opening in front of a tiny, shack-like restaurant located just steps from the ocean. While these unobstructed views of the water may be pleasing to customers at the North End Beach Grill, a legal fight over the beachfront property may result in the gap finally being filled in. The city is looking to acquire an easement in front of the restaurant through eminent domain, which would give it the ability to complete the dunes in this part of town from “tip to tip,” city spokesman Doug Bergen said...

Kim Thomas and her family were having what could best be described as a smorgasbord of seafood on Sunday. “I got everyone a little bit of everything,” Thomas said with a hearty laugh while glancing at her crowded food tray. There were clam fritters, a crab cake platter, clam chowder and lobster bisque soup for starters. Thomas noted that her husband, Pete, would probably go back for clams...

The notion that the seashore closes down after Labor Day and becomes a veritable ghost town can be refuted with just three words: Fall Block Party. Resembling Times Square on a busy afternoon, Ocean City’s Asbury Avenue retail corridor was transformed into a sprawling, downtown pedestrian mall Saturday for the annual Fall Block Party celebration...

Boosted by a strong housing market and brisk tourism industry, Ocean City’s economy is surging overall and should continue on an upward trend through 2018 and beyond, business leaders predicted at an economic summit Thursday night. At the same time, the city should make an aggressive push to attract more millennials because they represent the next wave in the travel industry and will be crucial for helping the beach town remain a coveted vacation destination, they said...