Editor’s Desk: ‘This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.’
Neville Shute’s 1957 novel, “On the Beach,” is about how people in Australia wait and prepare for deadly radioactive fallout, swirling around the world after a nuclear war, to finally reach their distant shores. I read that in middle school while the Cold War was still raging. It added to my apprehension about how a […]
Our View: Elected officials owe their loyalty to their constituents first
The Republican primary for Upper Township Committee is intense. Tough and sometimes nasty election fights in local politics here and around the country are not out of the ordinary, but one aspect is much newer. It’s something that was part and parcel for federal offices, the Senate and House of Representatives, but lately has filtered […]
Editorial: Returned school aid not nearly enough
New funding formula desperately needed Gov. Phil Murphy touted two bills he signed last week returning some of the state aid to districts that have been facing serious aid declines. While he makes the legislation sound rosy, the impact is anything but for districts including Upper Township, Somers Point and Mainland Regional High School. As […]
John H. Andrus II: Requiem for an editor
In a low brick building on Eighth Street, with business offices in the front and a line of printing presses in the back that would shake the walls when they ran, The Sentinel-Ledger of the 1990s continued to operate much as it had for more than a century. Each week – twice weekly in the […]
Editor’s Desk: Working in a place with real corruption
And a community that didn’t mind The day I arrived to manage a small daily newspaper in Naugatuck, Conn., as a young man in the 1980s, the receptionist said I had a collect call from the mayor, William Rado. She asked if I wanted to accept the charges. “Why is the mayor calling collect?” I […]
Thankful it’s not a divisive (local) election
The sky won’t fall no matter which combo of candidates wins Ocean City voters should be pleased that they have choices in the May 14 municipal election. Having choices means they get a say in deciding who will be their representatives on Ocean City Council. There are two candidates in three of the four ward […]
An ‘ode’ to N.J.’s dragonflies, damselflies
If you’re near a pond, stream, or marsh on a warm day, you may notice quick-flying insects skimming across the water or swooping and darting through the air. When they alight, you may be dazzled by their brightly-colored bodies and double sets of lacy wings. They’re dragonflies and damselflies, fierce predators who are the fastest […]
Opinion: Don’t raise a ruckus
Running for office in Ocean City Ocean City may be nonpartisan when it comes to the mayor and City Council, but people who live here know there are politics aplenty. One political message underlying the current race for five council seats in the May 14 election is the fear of who might raise a ruckus […]
NJ party bosses won’t be happy
A federal judge’s ruling Friday that should change New Jersey ballots isn’t going to make party bosses happy, but it may give those candidates running without their party’s blessings a little better chance in future elections.At least they won’t be (as) disadvantaged.The ruling could have a profound effect in Upper Township, where newcomers Zach Palombo […]
Government overreach vs. government overreaction
Ocean City’s opposition to the Shore Protection Rule proposed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is understandable if the reality were endangered shorebirds destroying the resort’s summer tourist season. That fear is like seeing a flock of birds in the sky and imagining they’re the vanguard in some Alfred Hitchcock scenario. It is […]