Topic focused on obesity surgery first; hurricane recovery second

by Phil Stilton

SEASIDE HEIGHTS – In an unannounced visit here, Governor Chris Christie sat down on May 7^th with NBC anchorman Brian Williams to talk about his ordeal as the Governor of a hurricane ravaged state.

The interview, recorded for Mr. Williams’ Rock Center variety news program, was conducted outside the Beachcomber Bar & Grill on the boardwalk, one of many businesses impacted by Hurricane Sandy last October.

When aired on television the following week, much of the start of the nearly 11-minute segment instead revolved around laparoscopic gastric band surgery the governor had in February. The program host began the segment telling viewers he and NBC had planned to interview the governor for many months about the conditions of the hurricane ravaged state in which he presides, but the topic was quickly changed to the pop tabloid topic of the week…Read More

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

by Erik Weber

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP – It may have been several decades since they put down their social studies notebooks and picked up their badges, but for five of the seven current police chiefs serving in Ocean County, coming back to the halls of Central Regional High School here to reminisce about their early years in front of  the cameras of contemporary television students was a bit like coming home again.

The five – Toms River Chief Michael G. Mastronardy, Class of 1971; Tuckerton Chief Michael Caputo, Class of 1976; Ocean Gate Chief Reece J. Fisher, Class of 1985; Pine Beach Chief John M. Sgro, Class of 1987; and Berkeley Chief Karin T. DiMichele, nee Kane, Class of 1989 – arrived one by one to the parking lot of the school, once just a grass field when they all had attended, and entered a main entrance facing Forest Hills Parkway that was built years after they graduated. After photo opportunities and initial video interviews conducted by student Avery Jackson in another newer hallway honoring successful alumni, the five walked through an older part of the school – trading old stories as they passed the rows of lockers – and entered the current location of the student television studio, which once held Industrial Arts classes.

The two other Central Regional graduates currently serving as police chiefs – Seaside Heights Chief Thomas Boyd and Seaside Park Chief Francis Larkin – were unable to attend. Lt. Kevin C. Arnold, head of the Island Heights Police Department but not yet formally promoted to chief, is also an alumni.

Settling into a row of chairs before bright lights and a group of digital videocameras, the five opened up to student and host Angela Roberts for the station’s Community Spotlight program about their reaction to the changes around the school, how they learned they had all graduated from the same school, what they remembered most about their time here, and what they could offer as advice for contemporary students.

“So, pulling up into the parking lot and walking through those same hallways again, what felt different?” asked Ms. Roberts. “What has changed since how you remember it?”

Read More of this Story: http://issuu.com/oceansignal/docs/20130524_ocean_signal/7

A verbal altercation between two patrons resulted in a stabbing.  The suspect then fled the scene and police were still searching for the person as of noon, Sunday.

The victim suffered a stab wound to the abdomen and was taken to Jersey Shore Medical Center.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Seaside Heights Police Department at 732-793-1800.

Akers said that the borough expects permanent fencing, ramps and lighting to be in place by mid June, but says adequate facilities will be in place by Memorial Day weekend to accommodate visitors.

Since Prince Harry’s visit to Seaside Heights on Tuesday, Sidd & Associates has finished nearly 70% of the decking on the boardwalk’s north end.   Further south, crews were busy building beach ramps and preparing railings.

On Friday, workers at the Casino Pier were working to install electrical systems under sections boardwalk, which were temporarily finished for the Prince’s visit, but now exposed again.

See the full story in next week’s Ocean Signal.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS–Just in time for Memorial Day, the borough council has approved the hiring of five new full-time police officers.   The five men had all served previously as special police officers to the borough during the summer season and were also employed during the borough’s recovery after Hurricane Sandy.

Lawrence Mayberry, Michael McCurdy, Christopher Linnell, Erik Hershey and Justin Heffernan were all sworn in by borough attorney, Jean Cipriani.

“We got five really good cops, I’m very proud of them.” said Police Chief Thomas Boyd. “These are the types of guys who go out and help people.  They’re the types of guys who go up in the tree and get the cat, not the guys that shoot the cat out of the tree.”

Boyd said each of the officers have proven themselves worthy of becoming full-time police officers through their actions since Hurricane Sandy.  “We’ve been through a lot, we’ve been beaten up, so this is finally some good news,” Boyd said.

Chief Boyd thanked Mayor William Akers and the borough council for allowing him to hire the new officers and for the community support for that decision, “With they allowed me to do, to hire these five good kids, you have no idea what it means to me…and to see the community come together again, it’s great, these men deserve this, they’ve worked for it.” the chief added.   Akers said that since Hurricane Sandy, the five had

Former Seaside Heights Mayor P. Kenneth Hershey, held the bible during the swearing in of his son, Erik.

“I’m so glad to be here tonight,” Mayor Hershey said afterwards as he broke down in tears of joy.   “I’m so happy for my son tonight.”

“I just to thank the mayor and council for giving me this opportunity,” said Officer McCurdy.

Councilman Richard Thompkins said the five new officers had performed well as special officers for the borough.  “They held themselves in such high regards, we never looked at them as class II officers, we always felt as if they were full-time officers,” Mr. Thompkins said.

“I’m so happy we’ve finally been able to appoint these men,” said Councilwoman Agnes Polhemus, “It’s been a long time coming, but they were certainly worth the wait.”

On Tuesday, the Jet Star Roller Coaster, the iconic image of Hurricane Sandy in Ocean County, was removed from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.   The entire process took nearly 24 hours, but you can now watch it in just over one minute.

See more pictures from the demolition and Prince Harry’s visit from Ocean County’s ONLY Authentically Local news source, The Ocean Signal & Ocean County Police Blotter:  https://www.facebook.com/OCPoliceBlotter?fref=ts

SEASIDE HEIGHTS – The first phase of debris removal from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean here was completed today with the demolition and extraction of the Jet Star rollercoaster, which became an iconic symbol the morning after Hurricane Sandy devastated the shore last October 29th.

Weeks Marine of Cranford, Union County completed its work at noon today, approximately 23 hours after it began removal efforts alongside the Casino Pier, where the coaster originally sat.

Toby Wolf, spokesperson for the pier amusement firm, stated the next step would be an oceanographic survey of what else remained of several other rides and attractions in the water, including the Stillwalk Manor, a well-known “dark ride” mock-haunted house which was completely topped from the end of the pier during the storm.

Photo by Pat Day, NYOnAir.Com.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS–While the global media networks swarmed the oceanfront boardwalk in anticipation of the arrival of England’s Prince Harry and to give the world its first look at the removal of the Jet Star roller coaster from the Atlantic Ocean, just a few blocks away, progress of another kind was being made.

Crews from Albert Marine have been working hard to finish construction of Seaside Heights’ other boardwalk, the often forgotten bay side boardwalk, which is also an important part of the town’s summer tourism draw.

Mayor Bill Akers said “People don’t realize that the boardwalk on the bay side is also important, it’s our link to the Barnegat Bay.”

The boardwalk hosts a playground, fishing and crabbing pier, jetski and watercraft rentals, boat rentals and a launch point for private boats.

Work is expected to be fully complete by June 1st in time for the Jersey Gems RV Camping Rally starting June 4th.