Thrilling White Marlin Open to Stephen Decatur's historic title: Our top stories of 2023

From a new mayor for Salisbury to Ray Lewis Day in Pocomoke City and a lot more, 2023 has been a year full of great stories from our reporters.

Here is a selection of my favorites from a colorful year, with links to each one to enjoy in full.

A visit to Joe's La Roma

Reporter Olivia Minzola covered the opening of Joe's La Roma in Fruitland, which of course continues a grand family tradition.

Vinny Bellia opened Vinny's La Roma on Nov. 28, 1978, at 934 S. Salisbury Blvd. The business became a staple in the surrounding community before closing 37 years later on Dec. 31, 2015.

Now he is back and supporting his son, Joe, at Fruitland’s very own Joe’s La Roma, an elevated dining experience and spinoff, so to speak, of the original Vinny’s La Roma.

The full story: 'The proof is in the sauce': Joe Bellia takes the wheel at new restaurant Joe's La Roma

Andy Harris plays key role in speaker vote

The GOP had a revolving door of Speaker of the U.S. House candidates before settling on current Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

And earlier this year, Rep. Andy Harris, R-1st-Md., was right in the middle of the historic three days and 15 ballots it took for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to take the reins.

Harris voted for McCarthy on the 13th ballot after opposing him on the first 12, and he discussed his role in that historic process with reporter Dwight Weingarten.

The full story: Maryland's Andy Harris explains House speaker saga role: 'Congress is going to work better'

Offshore wind plans and whales

The crescendo against offshore wind development amid what appeared to be spiking whale deaths across the East Coast got louder earlier this year, with Ocean City joining the call for a moratorium on its development.

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan and the Town Council again urged state and federal officials to halt offshore wind farm development in the region until further investigation into possible impacts on sea life such as humpback whales.

Reporter Kristian Jaime was on top of it, reporting the story from all sides.

The full story: Ocean City cries foul on offshore wind energy amid whale deaths

The Other One brewery opens in Ocean City

The newest brewery in Ocean City has opened at 2305 Philadelphia Ave., inside the building below Surf’s Up Arcade.

Nathan Todd, founder and head brewer of The Other One Brewing Company, said, “I think this is going to be a place that people are going to be able to come, and they're going to love it because we’ll always have good jams on. It's a friendly and inviting atmosphere, so it's a very chill type of place.”

For 10 years he worked at the now closed Backshore Brewing Co. at 10^th street on the Boardwalk. Todd started as a bartender and worked his way up to head brewer and manager, before launching The Other One.

Photographer and reporter Lauren Roberts captured all the excitement of this big opening.

The full story: New Ocean City brewery The Other One is open now, and here's a look at what's on tap

Thrilling finish to 50th anniversary White Marlin Open

For the 50th anniversary White Marlin Open, sports reporter Alec Branch was on the scene throughout and on the exciting final day, which brought with it a new big winner.

A blue marlin caught on the final day by John Ols and the Floor Reel stands out as this year's biggest catch, and the only qualifying billfish caught at this year's tournament. And the 265-pound bigeye tuna caught by Brian Stewart and the Reel Tight finished on top of the tuna category.

Here's Branch's writeup from the big finish.

The full story: White Marlin Open 2023: All the big winners as exciting final day wraps up in Ocean City

Ray Lewis Day in Pocomoke City

As Baltimore Ravens NFL legend Ray Lewis traveled down the picturesque streets of Pocomoke City, Maryland, his heart filled with gratitude. In that moment, as he looked out over the quaint town, he was reminded of something — home.

The pro football hall of famer and former linebacker, who played his entire 17-year career with the Baltimore Ravens, made a special appearance on the Eastern Shore on Saturday, Oct. 7.

And Olivia Minzola was on the scene to capture all the fun of Ray Lewis Day.

The full story: Ray Lewis Day thrills Baltimore Ravens legend as he's embraced by fans on Eastern Shore

Shore's pivotal role in a peace accord

The distance between the quiet farmland of the former Wye Plantation on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and the rubble left by rockets in the Middle East after a terrorist attack on Israel may seem to be an ocean apart, but 25 years ago, Americans made an effort for peace, bringing those seemingly disparate worlds together for a righteous cause.

In October 1998, convened by the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat came to the quaint locale about 5 miles off U.S. Route 50 to further negotiations for peace in their home region. President Bill Clinton, bouncing back and forth by helicopter each day between the Wye campus and the White House, dedicated nearly 90 hours of his agenda, weeks before an election, to aid in the talks.

And reporter Dwight Weingarten took a thorough and insightful look back at the Shore's role in history.'

The full story: 1990s Middle East peace deal had eyes of world on Wye River and Maryland’s Eastern Shore

Salisbury elects new mayor in big change

Salisbury's 2023 mayoral election brought a big change to the city, with new Mayor Randy Taylor prevailing over Megan Outten and Jermichael Mitchell in a three-way race.

But what led to this finish? Reporter Kristian Jaime took a dive into the numbers to get to what drove Taylor to this big victory.

The full story: Salisbury election 2023 takeaways: What drove Randy Taylor to lead in mayoral vote?

Mermaids among us?

Mermaids were back in the forefront this year with Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” and Netflix’s docuseries “MerPeople.”

And here on the Eastern Shore, you can head to Berlin to learn about them at the Mermaid Museum, swim with them at hotels up and down the Shore or even become one yourself, as Lauren Roberts found out with this fun feature story.

The full story: Mermaids among us? Yes, and they're bringing joy and wonder to those that see them

And of course, Decatur's triumphant run to state title

The perfect season for the Stephen Decatur football team got its perfect ending, as the Seahawks (14-0) defeated Huntingtown (10-3) 21-13 to grab the MPSSAA Class 2A State Championship.

It was another close one for the Seahawks at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, as they jumped out to a 14-0 lead and held off a Huntingtown second-half comeback to bring home Decatur's first football state championship.

And Alec Branch was there for all the excitement.

The full story: State champs! Stephen Decatur completes perfect season to bring home Maryland title

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Ocean City's new brewery, Salisbury's mayor and more top stories