Despite the governor’s statements that “every boardwalk up and down the Jersey Shore” would be open in time for this weekend, at least several inland boardwalk areas, including Ocean Gate and the marina boardwalk section in Beachwood, both on the Toms River, remained under partial reconstruction at press time.

by Kathleen Koch and Phil Stilton

SEASIDE HEIGHTS – What do three Democrats from the “Deep South” have in common with a Republican mayor from the Jersey Shore? They all know what it’s like to have a hurricane devastate their communities, and on Friday, May 17th, they all came together in here.

Seaside Heights Mayor Bill Akers hosted the delegation from Mississippi who came to meet with local mayors and officials and discuss the long term effects of Hurricane Katrina on their cities, including former United States Congressman Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), Mayor Brent Warr (D-Gulfport, Miss.) and Mayor Eddie Favre (D-Bay St. Louis, Miss.). All were elected officials when Hurricane Katrina struck their state in 2005.

Rep. Taylor, who lost his home in that Category 3 storm, tried to introduce legislation to reform the insurance industry to give homeowners more security after national disasters, but his bill never made it to the Senate floor for vote. The divide was between congressmen who represented coastal communities and those who did not. With Taylor’s 2010 election loss, supporters of reform were certain the legislation would die without his support, and it did. Today, New Jersey towns face the same insurance and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) problems his state was confronted with eight years earlier.

Seven weeks before Hurricane Katrina made landfall…Continue Reading

DOVER BEACHES NORTH– Toms River Police responded to a Silver Beach Road home here at 2 pm on Tuesday after receiving an alarm regarding a 24 foot boat that was fully engulfed in fire.

Ocean Beach, Seaside Heights and Lavallette fire departments responded and quickly extinguished the fire.

The boat located in the front yard was totally destroyed and the fire damaged the vinyl siding on the front of the two story home.    A 68 year old man Normandy Beach man was taken to Brick Hospital for burns to his hand and foot.  The man stated he was working on the boat and it caught fire when he turned the engine on.

The team, consisting of  Emily Golembiski of Little Egg Harbor, Jillian Hubbard of Toms River, Gillian Schriever of West Creek, Michael Signorelli of Toms River and Megan Tumpey of  Brick, will represent New Jersey in the 2013 North American Envirothon at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana in August.

The Ocean County students competed against 33 other teams on knowledge of natural resources-related topics, including soils, forestry, aquatics, wildlife ecology and a current environmental issue. This year’s theme was “Sustainable Rangeland Management: Achieving a Balance Between Traditional Agricultural Uses with Non-Agricultural Uses on Montana Rangelands.”

“For 20 years, New Jersey high school students have had the opportunity to participate in this valuable competition and learn more about the environment, natural resources and science,” said Secretary Fisher. “We hope they take advantage of the skills they learned and consider careers in agriculture and natural resources-related fields.”

Each of the MATES team members received $1,000 scholarships from the New Jersey Association of Conservation Districts, $2,000 scholarships from Richard Stockton State College and $1,000 scholarships from Applied and Health Sciences at Kean University.

Two 5-member teams of MATES students competed in last year’s Envirothon with all but one of those students graduating. The two MATES teams placed first and second in 2012. An almost entirely new set of 10 students made up this year’s two teams.

“I am very proud of the hard work and dedication put forth by our members,” said MATES Advisor Adam Sprague.  “It was quite an accomplishment considering it was the first year competing for nine out of the 10 team members. We now turn our attention to Montana which offers an exciting variety of challenges in terms of preparation for our students.”

The second-place team in this year’s Envirothon was West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North and third place was taken by High Tech High School, North Bergen.

The Envirothon is sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, State Soil Conservation Committee; New Jersey Association of Conservation Districts; the 15 Soil Conservation Districts; United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; and Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

The 15 Soil Conservation Districts in New Jersey follow county boundaries and implement the New Jersey Soil and Sediment Control Act, which governs certain aspects of new development.  These semi-autonomous bodies are locally governed and play a strong role in the protection of New Jersey’s natural resources.

This edition of the watershed-wide trash and debris cleanup has taken on special meaning as it is the first blitz to be held since Superstorm Sandy pounded the Barnegat Bay region at the end of October. Some events will entail removal of Sandy-related debris and dune restoration in addition to typical litter and debris cleanups

Volunteers are coming from all over the state and the 37 municipalities in the 660-square-mile watershed, which encompasses 33 municipalities in Ocean County and four in Monmouth County. The bay is suffering from degraded water quality caused by many factors, including excessive algae growth caused by nutrients from fertilizers and other sources.

The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to around dusk. It will be held rain or shine.

The following is Commissioner Martin’s itinerary:

*     8:30 a.m. Opening remarks, Surf City Municipal Boat Ramp, on Barnegat Bay at the end of Division Avenue. Attending will be students from the MATES Academy at Ocean County College, the Southern Regional Middle School and Ethel Jacobson Elementary School, local residents.

*     9:30 a.m. Cleanup of marshland impacted by Sandy debris adjacent to the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, 120 Long Beach Boulevard, Loveladies.

*     10:45 a.m. Planting grass and shrubs on dunes impacted by Sandy, 36th Street and the oceanfront, Brant Beach.

More than 11,300 volunteers have participated since the first Barnegat Blitz in May 2011, collecting thousands of bags of trash and filling dozens of dumpsters and dump trucks with a wide assortment of trash and debris.

The DEP is the core organizer of the Barnegat Bay Blitz, providing staff captains who work with the local community to identify cleanup locations and coordinate local volunteers. Captains are also in charge of event-day logistics.

Reporters are welcome to contact staff captains to coordinate local cleanup stories. Team captain contact numbers and other information about the Barnegat Bay Blitz can be found at:

http://www.nj.gov/dep/barnegatbay/bbblitz.htm

For additional help, contact the DEP’s press office. For assistance the day of the event, contact the Press Office or the Press Officers at the numbers listed on this advisory.

For information on the Governor’s Barnegat Bay Comprehensive Restoration Plan, visit: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/barnegatbay/

SEASIDE PARK – About 60 residents here came together yesterday to enjoy Derby Day at the Windjammer Motor Inn through the annual spring fundraiser fundraiser hosted by the Seaside Park Beautification Committee.
The fun started in the late afternoon with food and games, including raffle prizes and a hat contest featuring the outlandish designs put together in true Kentucky Derby tradition.
As the race got underway, almost all present crowded around televisions to cheer on their picks as Orb, ridden by Joel Rosario, won on a muddy track with a time of 2 minutes and 2.89 seconds.
Proceeds from the event were to go toward replacing the tree that stood outside borough offices and the police department but was lost during Hurricane Sandy. The tree was the focus of numerous borough events, including the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony and activities for Summer in the Park, the borough’s business association.
For more information on the Seaside Park Beautification Committee, please visit www.sspbeautification.com. Summer in the Park can be found at www.seasideparktourism.com.

BERKELEY – Central Regional TV Productions students won county and state contests and film festival awards for their video productions surrounding the events of Hurricane Sandy.

Senior Austin Steinbrick recently took the award for Best Documentary in the Ocean County Library Film Festival held at the Toms River Branch of the Ocean County Library.  Over 140 entries were received from around the world and only 43 were chosen for submission.  Austin’s video told the story of Hurricane Sandy using footage recorded by students and staff from the Central Regional High School which included eye witness accounts of the devastating events on the day of the storm.

In addition, Austin received an Honorable Mention along with senior Nicholas Castrovilly for the New Jersey State Attorney General’s PSA Contest Proms and Alcohol Don’t Mix Contest.

High school junior, Marc Wittig, won a Certificate of Excellence at the Ocean County Teen Arts Festival for his Hurricane Sandy video.  The Ocean County Teen Arts Festival is a showcase and competition held at Ocean County College.  Student works are judged and critiqued where the best in show receive a Certificate of Excellence.  The Central Regional High School TV Program has received an Award of Excellence eight times over the last twelve years.

Student works are available for viewing at the school district website at www.centralreg.k12.nj.us by linking to the “video on demand” tab.  All of our students’ Hurricane Sandy videos can be watched on Channel 21.

Volunteers took a break from creating piles of debris to be cleaned up as part of Clean Ocean Action’s Beach Sweep while others planted dunegrass for Seaside Park’s day of service.

by Erik Weber

SEASIDE PARK – The beachfront and bayside here bustled with activity this morning with beaches opening to the public at 7 am and volunteers from the borough and beyond participating in both Clean Ocean Action’s Beach Sweep and an official municipal day of service.
Beginning at 9 am, the statewide environmental volunteer organization facilitated the collection and compilation of various debris remaining across the beaches from last October’s hurricane and subsequent storms. At 10 am, borough officials kicked off their day of service, with dunegrass planting on the oceanfront and the painting of benches and lifeguard supply boxes corralled at the marina for the work.
Metered parking enforcement is suspended for the duration of today, Saturday, April 27th.
Though beaches are now open to the public, swimming is prohibited and patrons are expected to follow the normal rules and regulations posted at beach entrances.

Read more about the cause: http://thinkingofyouthursdays.blogspot.com/

Here are the dates for the Jeans Days:
Middle School – Friday, April 19.
High School – Friday, April 26.

Central staff members will also wear green ribbons on their respective “Jeans Day” since it is one of Sandy Hook Elementary’s school colors.