Several SWAT officers and U.S. Marshals suffered injuries after a porch collapsed beneath them while they were attempting to serve an arrest warrant in Missouri.
Authorities were looking for 26-year-old Jacob Muñoz, who was convicted of possessing child pornography.
Muñoz was not at the property when officers arrived, but officials say he later turned himself in.
Great video showcasing the sad state of business marketing and design I experienced recently in OC (I know it’s everywhere). Mind numbing, lazy, uninspired, and ugly as hell.
Why not set some standards and require businesses to maintain the beachy charm OC used to and still could have? Other places do it.
Virginia Beach City Council will consider a 12-month moratorium on new data center permits to give local officials time to establish regulations.
Local planning staff faced challenges setting clear standards because the industry lacks established guidelines on what to allow or avoid.
The city joins Chesapeake and Suffolk in using moratoriums to manage concerns over large-scale facilities and their impact on electricity, water and noise.
Read more here: https://www.whro.org/news/local-news/2026-08-14/virginia-beach-mulls-data-center-moratorium-until-it-can-devise-regulations
WICOMICO COUNTY, MD—In a candlelit ceremony County Attorneys Paul Wilber and Andrew Illuminati were promoted to the rank of Full Toady by County Executive Julie Giordano.
The promotion, which grants both lawyers the right to nod aggressively in agreement whenever Giordano speaks, comes after their legal defense of the executive’s management of the Wicomico Nursing Home.
Observers noted that the transition from standard brown-nosers to full-fledged sycophants was completed after the duo argued that an emergency oversight bill passed by the County Council was not, in fact, an emergency, but rather a misunderstanding of the word "accountability".
"Paul and Andrew have shown the kind of spine-free dedication that this administration values most," said Giordano.
As part of their new full toady status, Wilber and Illuminati will receive exclusive permission to draft 80-page legal opinions that boil down to "Whatever Julie Wants".
"We are humbled by this elevation," Illuminati said, while nervously looking back to ensure Giordano was smiling.
"At the end of the day, my role as County Attorney isn't to represent both branches of government objectively," Wilber explained while fetching Giordano a Diet Coke. "It’s to ensure that the executive branch has the legal armor necessary to fight off pesky things like care of the local vulnerable population”.
Paywalled ( NOT SATIRE ! ) briefly:
Today after the Wicomico County Council unanimously advanced emergency legislation to impose much needed oversight of the Wicomico Nursing Home, County Executive Julie Giordano urged lawmakers to table the measure.
Giordano said that the families concerned about the substandard care are driven by “hearsay, complaints from disgruntled employees, and members of the public who simply don’t have all the facts.”
“That happened in history. It’s called the Salem witch trials, and we see how that turned out,” Giordano said.
The confrontation came two weeks after workers, residents’ relatives and civil rights leaders stormed a County Council meeting to describe how qualified employees had been abruptly forced out, often over the phone, resulting in deterioration of care.
Experienced staff were replaced by part time inexperienced help in an effort to cut costs by administrator Tina Foskey who arrived April 9.
Foskey, who was hired by Executive Giordano, has held 10 different positions in eight years reflecting a résumé that doesn’t demonstrate stability or adequate qualifications.
Speculation remains that this is an effort to cut costs for the purpose of selling off the facility.
Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes called the changes “a systematic dismantling approach” and said residents are waiting for meals, help using the bathroom and bedtime care.
“It’s an emergency,” she said.
Councilwoman Shanie Shields was blunter: “It’s like a cancer that’s going through that nursing home and tearing it up, and the emergency legislation is the cure.”
The Council’s separately retained attorney, Robert Benson, clashed with Executive Administration attorneys Paul Wilber and Andrew Illuminati who were clearly carrying forth the Executive’s orders without concern for the vulnerable individuals needing care.
The bill will next face a public hearing at 10 a.m. Sept. 15 before a final vote. A community town hall is scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 31 at First Baptist Church in Salisbury.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2026/08/18/wicomico-nursing-home-oversight-bill-salem-witch-trials/
Not hating on it but this was my experience. Just spent the last week here as a first timer.. Did all kinds of stuff and ate at all the highly suggested places and still this place seemed like an absolute tourist trap the entire time. I couldn't have one fucking meal without someone trying to come take pics of us to make some $. I couldn't sit at the beach without someone offering to do the same. Way different than going to obx or Clearwater FL where it's way more chill.
Everything here just seemed overpriced and the food was all mid at best aside from a few spots. Bad monkey, dead Freddie's, longboard cafe awesome suggestions and those places were delicious.. However all of the boardwalk food sucked. The seafood was ok but for the cost of being here it was way overpriced for the experience.
I will say, we didn't let the jellys bother us and got to swim and visiting assateague island was amazing. Kids got to see the horses and really enjoyed that experience hiking around. Lots of good mini golf spots too, but I guess I just don't see a need to visit again.
What do y'all do when ya come down?
Some shots from my visit to Howard county conservancy this weekend. I love seeing large fields of black eyes susans
Correct me If I am wrong, but isn't this not an unusual amount for a such a small (relatively) sized town?
Across Virginia, more than 3,000 Flock cameras are estimated to line the highways, roads and parking lots in Virginia.
The AI-powered policing tool has won wide adoption from law enforcement agencies seeking to use high-tech tools to reduce crime. But the rapid growth of 24/7 surveillance has set off waves of protests in Virginia’s small towns and sprawling counties.
One Norfolk woman discovered that Flock cameras recorded her minivan’s trips – capturing her license plate, vehicle features, exact time and location – more than 100 times in just three days in February. She now joins other privacy advocates to regularly lobby city council to cancel its Flock contract.
Reporter Kunle Falayi has documented the spread of Flock Safety systems and other automatic license plate readers throughout Virginia. He’s mapped the locations of ALPR cameras across the commonwealth.
Falayi’s stories have sparked citizen concern and protests. Now, some local elected leaders are paying attention.
Read our full coverage here: https://www.whro.org/virginia-center-for-investigative-journalism/2026-08-14/flock-surveillance-spreads-virginia-communities-push-back
Wicomico’s violent crime rate makes the county less safe than most counties in the United States.
While nationally violent crime is decreasing year over year, that is not the case locally. https://plaincrime.com/trends .
In fact, crimegrade.org gives Wicomico a grade of “D” which reflects how often assault, robbery, rape, and murder occur in Wicomico County vs the average US county.
Wicomico County sits in the 23rd percentile for violent-crime safety which means that 77% of US counties are safer.
https://crimegrade.org/violent-crime-wicomico-county-md/
Based on data from Crimescore the Wicomico aggregate Safety Score is 37.5, with a D grade across 72 scored block groups.
https://crimescore.io/map/county/wicomico-md/
I have no interest in owning real estate in Ocean City but at times I look around the real estate websites to see what I can learn about markets in different areas. When I looked at OC I was surprised at the asking prices. Virtually nothing under $250k. The upper 200s might get you a 1/1 or 2/1 in an older bayside building with no pool or other amenities. Into the 300s opens up small units in pool buildings. 400k and up to be in a nicer building or closer to the beach. Half million and up for most units larger than 2/2. Not the kind of prices I would have expected for a place people call Glen Burnie by the Sea.
Doesn’t seem like there are many takers. Over 500 active listings in OC, many of them active over 90 and 120 days, presumably with more to come after the summer rental season. I assume the flood of inventory is a mixture of Covid era buyers who figured out owning a vacation rental isn’t what they expected and boomers aging out of ownership.
I’m not here to make predictions, but it doesn’t seem this inventory glut will be cleared anytime soon by selling these properties off one by one to mom and pop investors, as would have been the case in the past. What do people think might happen with the many, many unsold condos of OC?