Legislators have to navigate odd year in pandemic
Editor’s note: Antwan McClellan, a former Ocean City councilman, was elected to the Assembly in November 2019 with former Lower Township mayor Erik Simonsen. The third member of their Republican team is state Sen. Michael L. Testa Jr., an attorney from Cumberland County. This week, McClellan and Simsonsen reflect on this first year in office […]
Atlantic County Toys For Kids makes things brighter for younger patients at Shore
SOMERS POINT – Thanks to the Atlantic County Toys for Kids Program (ACTFK) and its generous sponsors, the holidays will be a little brighter for the young patients at Shore Medical Center. Greg DePiano, a retired sergeant from the Atlantic County Department of Corrections, has been running the Toys for Kids Program for the past […]
Pandemic dominates discussion at Upper school board meeting
By BILL BARLOW /Special to the Sentinel UPPER TOWNSHIP — Budgets, standardized testing, school lunches and transportation issues were discussed during the Upper Township Board of Education meeting Dec. 21, but as with so much in 2020, the pandemic and its impact were center stage at the meeting. Schools are scheduled to reopen after the winter […]
Ocean City moves forward with Merion Park flood mitigation
By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel OCEAN CITY — City Council unanimously approved a $215,300 contract with ACT Engineers to design a new flood-mitigation project for the Merion Park and Four Seasons area, the latest step in a long-term, multimillion-dollar effort to reduce flooding island-wide. The vote came at an afternoon meeting held Monday, Dec. […]
Atlantic County nears 14,000 coronavirus cases, 350 deaths
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff MAYS LANDING — There were 22 fatalities attributed to COVID-19 in Atlantic County over the past week as new cases closed in on 14,000 since the pandemic began. Those who died over the past week were as young as 50 years old and a resident 108 years old was among those […]
Cape May County loses 9 to COVID, still bottom of casualty list
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — Over the past week, when at least nine deaths from COVID-19 were recorded in Cape May County, the county surpassed 4,000 cumulative cases of the coronavirus since numbers started being kept in March during the pandemic. However, the county still ranks with Salem County as among […]
COVID cases, quarantines jump in school district
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City School District saw a huge spike in coronavirus cases and forced quarantines in the past six weeks. The district announced its latest numbers of COVID-19 infections among students and staff and those who have been forced to isolate themselves. As of Thursday, Dec. 17, there […]
District: Safety may allow in-person return Feb. 1
Ocean City issues call to action for holidays, ties it to full in-school learning By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City Board of Education wants to get students back to in-person learning as of Feb. 1. To do that, the board announced a “call to action” last week. The plea is to […]
Sen.: Marijuana law will boost the black market
Local legislators split on backing legal weed law By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – State Sen. Michael Testa and his Assembly District 1 colleagues all voted against the legislation regulating New Jersey’s marijuana industry after voters approved making recreational marijuana legal in the November election. Testa and Assemblymen Antwan McClellan and Erik […]
Trust fund awards $2M to Ocean City for affordable rentals
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff OCEAN CITY – Ocean City is getting a $2 million return on investment. Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration announced last week the city is getting a $2 million award from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to build 10 affordable rental units in different locations in the city. According to state Sen. Michael […]