OCEAN CITY, Md. The topics of gender equality and moral sensibility were up for debate Wednesday in federal court as Ocean City and five women argued over the constitutionality of the town s 2017 topless ban.
Lawyers for both sides in Ocean City s ongoing topless lawsuit went before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to make their cases.
In August 2017, Ocean City passed an ordinance that banned only women, and not men, from exposing their breasts in public. The legislation was in reaction to inquiries Chelsea Eline, who stated in August 2016 that she wanted to go topless in Ocean City.
Moving around the boardwalk and dining and drinking outdoors will all be more like they were pre-pandemic in Ocean City, Maryland, this summer.
For starters, with a statewide mask mandate being lifted, signs on the boardwalk referencing mandatory mask use were set to come down Thursday, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan said.
The announced removal of restrictions on outdoor dining means people can be seated closer together, Meehan said. He added that outside bars can open and that people can stand at them as well.
Also on the boardwalk, visitors will once again be able to ride the tram, which didn’t run last year. Bus service will be increased after being scaled back dramatically last year.
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ON THE MARK
•The Maryland General Assembly did approve tougher enhancements to the special event zone for Ocean City. It’s a matter of perspective, but I would opine the stricter measures were a success with the pop-up vehicle gathering at the end of September.
•Sunfest was bumped back into the calendar year because of a date conflict with the pop-up vehicle rally. The annual fall event was ultimately canceled due to the pandemic, however.
•Gee Williams was challenged in a re-election bid for Berlin mayor by Zack Tyndall as I predicted. However, there were also three other challengers in the race, which was won handily by Tyndall.
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