September in Ocean City can be a glorious time. The weather is mild, the beach less crowded, and, this year, business owners have the added joy of taking stock of a successful summer season despite the ongoing pandemic (note to Joe: We’re still in it). OC even has a new tagline from their hired influencers on social media: “Enjoy Fall,” which has officially replaced “Enjoy Summer.” September is also apparently a good time to talk about bicycles on the Ocean City Boardwalk, portions of which crews are even now redecking. It’s a longtime transportation issue with a distinctly 21st century twist: Should electric bikes, more commonly known as “e-bikes” be permitted on the boardwalk wherever standard bicycles are allowed?

Marketing – we encounter it every day and everywhere it seems. Yet, when developing marketing for our own businesses, knowing what to say and how to say it eludes us. Often tactics come first, like creating a website, social media posts, blogging, and vlogging. But focusing on tactics before developing marketing strategies dilutes the message and misses the targeted customer – your buyer. One of the most successful strategies begins with embracing your “WHY.”

State gaming officials hope to expedite mobile sports betting in Maryland with a rolling approval process. The Sports Wagering Application Review Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a proposal that opens the door to a rolling approval of applications for retail and the coveted mobile licenses. the decision leaves open the door for mobile sports betting in Maryland before the end of the year. “For this commission the tire’s about to hit the road as far as us actually acting on applications,” said Thomas Brandt, chairman of the commission. Up for grabs are 30 licenses for physical locations, as well as potentially 60 mobile licenses.

The Baltimore resident who won three games of “Jeopardy!” raised some eyebrows among the trivia show’s fans for his messy handwriting on Monday’s show. Emmett Stanton, 34, who won Friday, Monday and Tuesday before losing Wednesday, is a freelance writer who lives in Mount Vernon. In response to the clue, “The Governor of Massachusetts wrote, it ‘is a poor document, but a mighty act…wrong in its delay till January, but grand & sublime after all,’” Stanton wrote an answer that host Ken Jennings deemed correct: “what is the Emancipation Proclamation?” Stanton wagered all his money, $8,000, on the Final Jeopardy! question in the category Historic Documents.

As lawmakers begin envisioning the next farm bill, some U.S. House Republicans are wary of making climate change a priority for farmers and ranchers. The pushback from Republicans at a hearing this week came as the Biden administration has tried to make significant new investments in climate change mitigation on farmland, last week announcing 70 pilot projects to support climate-friendly food production. The debate could have a profound impact on efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, which have been hampered by agricultural runoff.

 

The state of Maryland and local governments in the Baltimore area have spent about $1 billion on the city’s Back River and Patapsco wastewater treatment plants over the past decade. So when Sen. Guy Guzzone (D-Howard), chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee, first heard about multiple water pollution problems at the Back River plant earlier this year, he was alarmed — and chagrined. “We consider ourselves partners in this,” Guzzone said of himself and his colleagues in the General Assembly. “That we had to read about it in the newspaper wasn’t ideal. When we invest a billion dollars, we have a responsibility, as members of the legislature, as fiscal stewards of taxpayer dollars, to know what’s going on.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group, a Hunt Valley-based TV station owner, dismissed as “speculation” a report that it’s trying to sell its Diamond Sports unit to three professional sports leagues, even as plans were confirmed Thursday for the launch of new regional sports streaming services around the country next week. Sinclair bought the regional sports networks for $10.6 billion in 2019, but they were hit hard by pandemic-related disruptions and “cord cutting,” in which many fans have abandoned traditional cable TV.

After a nearly two-year search, the consortium tapped to spearhead an ambitious toll lanes project in Montgomery County has found itself a construction partner. AM Partners, a conglomerate led by Transurban, announced on Wednesday that it has taken on Los Angeles-based Tutor Perini to design and build toll lanes along portions of the Capital Beltway and I-270. The project is a top priority for Gov. Larry Hogan (R), though it has roused opposition locally. Early last year, the Transurban group outbid two other conglomerates, despite the loss of its original construction partner, Archer Western, which separated from AM Partners for reasons that have never been made public.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball sent a letter to the Board of Education Monday saying he would allocate $35 million in state funds to three school construction projects, including systemic renovations at Oakland Mills High School. But school officials say the decision could delay projects prioritized in the superintendent’s proposed capital budget for fiscal 2024 that planned to draw from that same funding. It could even jeopardize future full-scale renovations at Oakland Mills, according to one school board member.