WEEKEND #10, 2008
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
HALF-INCH OF RAIN FLOODS STAR OF SEA PARKING AREAS
High standing water on Laurel Street once again threatens the Star of the Sea basement parking garage. These pictures were taken Sunday evening after thunderstorms past over Rehoboth Beach. The Boardwalk Plaza WeatherBug site reported that a half-inch of rain fell Sunday in town.
A frustrated resident, who provided these pictures, says the storm drain on Laurel Street frequently fails after rain and causes high water to stand on Laurel Street. That water eventually seeps into the Star of the Sea basement garage.
He says the city has made attempts to repair the drain in the past, but the problem continues. A resident said they called the city Sunday evening to report the latest flooding, and were still waiting at least 45 minutes for assistance to arrive.
REHOBOTH AVENUE TRAFFIC SIGNALS FAIL
The traffic signals failed at First Street and Rehoboth Avenue Sunday evening shortly after the thunderstorms past through the area. Police blocked First Street between Wilmington and Baltimore avenues. Officers kept Rehoboth Avenue traffic moving through the intersection until DelDOT arrived more than an hour later to repair the problem.
STARBUCKS FRONT DOOR SMASHED
The front door to the Starbucks on Rehoboth Avenue was smashed around 11:55 p.m. Friday. The shop was closed at the time, but one of the Cultured Pearl's staff reported the incident to police.
The opening was not large enough for anybody to enter the store. There was no obvious projectile on the floor inside the shop. Police had no usable suspect description.
On Saturday, the door was blocked with yellow tape and customers had to enter through the inside.
DEWEY BEACH OVERDOSE
Dewey Beach police radioed for EMS assistance around 1:45 a.m. Sunday for a man experiencing trouble breathing after a suspected alcohol overdose at 108 Clayton Street, bayside.
Around 2:12 a.m., EMS personnel and police loaded the man into a Rehoboth Beach ambulance and took him to Beebe Hospital.
Tim Cooper, Sussex County EMS spokesman, said the 20-year-old Wilmington man was found unconscious and unresponsive with shallow breathing by EMS workers. He said the man appeared to be suffering from some kind of overdose.
Two ambulances and two medic units on Clayton Street did not deter the party-like atmosphere. Young people, a few clinching open beer bottles, congregated in the street and along adjacent properties, during and after the medical emergency.
MOTEL FIRE IN OCEAN CITY
Ocean City firefighters battled a fire in a storage room at the Barefoot Mailman Motel on 35th Street late Saturday morning. The city's 9-1-1 center received several calls reporting smoke coming from the motel's north wing around 11:10 a.m.
A second alarm was sounded shortly after firefighters arrived, bringing Ocean Pines and Bethany Beach firefighters to help staff Ocean City fire stations.
The fire was located on the landing on the sixth floor stairwell and quickly extinguished.
Photos by Janet Fisher
SCOUTS LEARN ABOUT WATER SAFETY IN MEMORY OF 10-YEAR-OLD TRAGEDY
It's been 10 years since Susan and Carl Johnson of Wheaton, Maryland lost their 24-year-old son, Michael. His death stunned Rehoboth Beach as it was the first drowning in recent history -- if ever -- that happened while the beach patrol was on duty.
Michael got caught in a rip around 4:30 p.m. off Laurel Street on Sunday, August 23, 1998. Next to that date and entry, listed in the history section of the Rehoboth Beach Patrol Handbook, it reads "May we never forget how important our job is."
Michael had been an active Scout. As a result, his parents have since become advocates for water safety, and return each summer with Scout Troop 1083 from Silver Spring, Maryland to promote water safety. This was the Seventh Annual Beach Safety Weekend.
They take the Scouts to meet members of the Dewey Beach Patrol each year to learn about ocean life-guarding and water safety.
Below: WBOC-TV video-journalist Erin Brennan interviews Susan Johnson inside the Dewey Beach Patrol headquarters on Dagsworthy Avenue. Click here to watch her report.
Photo by Carl Johnson
POLICE INVESTIGATE STRUCK METER
This parking meter on Laurel Street near the boardwalk was discovered pushed over Friday. The suspect got away!
NO QUARTER REQUIRED TO PARK ON REHOBOTH AVENUE!
It promises to be the beginning of a new era for public parking in Rehoboth Beach. Imagine parking without the hassle of dealing with quarters? That day has finally come.
Actually, the 2008 season started with two Reinos on the south side of the bandstand with functional credit card readers. But now, almost all Reino parking meters in the first two blocks of Rehoboth Avenue have been equipped with credit card readers this past week. So far, they appear to be working.
On Saturday, July 19, during the early evening hours, more than a dozen of those Reinos failed. That failure was believed to be related to communication equipment being installed in each meter that would transmit credit card data.
A service tech from Reino worked late into the evening this past week swapping out circuit boards and installing credit card readers. The meters transmit credit card data through a cellular-based data network.
Reino had a representative in town to help trouble-shoot problems on Sunday. So far, only a couple meters were reported having trouble accepting credit cards.
CAR WITH 5 PARKING TICKETS GETS TOWED OFF REHOBOTH AVENUE
Sgt. Scott O'Bier and the Coastal Towing driver complete paperwork to remove a Honda Accord parked near Penny Lane Mall in the first block of Rehoboth Avenue. The Accord, with Maryland tags, was issued five tickets for being parked at an expired meter this past weekend, and was finally removed around 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
The Accord's windows were rolled down, and a plastic trash bag was filled with personal items in the front seat. Police are checking to see if the owner were hospitalized or arrested this past weekend.
SHOES HANGING ON BALTIMORE AVENUE REMOVED
On Monday, a Rehoboth Beach police officer on patrol asked that the "city crew" remove these shoes hanging in the first block of Baltimore Avenue. One reader wrote this past week and said in Philadelphia the color of the shoe indicates the type of drugs available for sale in the area, and strongly suspects that is the case on Baltimore Avenue. Another person also provided this Snopes.com link about hanging shoes.
BUNNIES ON NEW CASTLE STREET-EXTENDED
