Donald Wittkowski

Bill Campbell had plenty of company when he took the oath of office as Ocean City’s new police chief. His wife, Jill, and his 22-year-old son, Brett, were with him for the swearing-in ceremony Thursday night in the City Council Chambers. There were also a lot of blue uniforms in the Council Chambers to show support for Campbell. The room was partly filled with about 20 law enforcement officials, including Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland, police chiefs from neighboring towns and members of the Ocean City Police Department.

Republicans cruised to landslide wins Tuesday night in the First Legislative District election and also swept the Cape May County races for the Board of Commissioners, sheriff and surrogate. Incumbent Republicans Sen. Michael Testa and Assemblymen Antwan McClellan and Erik Simonsen easily brushed aside their Democratic opponents in the First Legislative District race to lock up new terms in the state Legislature.

As he steadily climbed through the ranks of the Ocean City Police Department during his 29-year career, it appeared that Bill Campbell was heading straight to the top – to chief. He went from being a summer police officer to a full-time patrolman, to sergeant, lieutenant, captain and then deputy chief. Campbell, though, never really thought about becoming police chief during any point in his career, he said. But now he is.

Jubilant Cape May County officials Wednesday celebrated the decision by Danish energy giant Orsted to scrap plans for two wind energy farms off the South Jersey coast, but expressed caution about the possibility that the projects could be resurrected later.

The “Big Candle” has been permanently extinguished. A spectacular implosion Thursday morning toppled the nearly 400-foot-tall smokestack at the former B.L. England power plant overlooking the Great Egg Harbor Bay in Beesleys Point. It took just seconds for explosives to destroy the cylindrical tower that been a landmark at the Jersey Shore since 1987.

Kristen and Taylor Hadley, who live in Beesleys Point, brought their sons, Jude and Ezra, to the B.L. England power plant site Saturday morning for an event called “Say Goodbye to the Stack.” Attended by dozens of local residents and visitors, the event served as a final farewell from the public to the towering smokestack that has been part of the Jersey Shore’s landscape since 1987. The smokestack will be imploded on Thursday, Oct. 26, as part of longer-range plans to redevelop the site.

Cape May County’s legal and political battle against a proposed offshore wind energy farm is gaining public support across New Jersey, a state lawmaker told Ocean City business leaders during a forum Thursday that touched on a series of hot button issues. “We’re fighting against the industrialization of our ocean,” Sen. Michael Testa said in remarks to the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce about the Ocean Wind 1 project planned 15 miles off the South Jersey coast. Testa and his fellow Republican members of the First Legislative District team, Assemblyman Antwan McClellan and Assemblyman Erik Simonsen, appeared before the Chamber to discuss the wind farm project, ongoing efforts to curb rowdy teenage behavior at the shore and New Jersey’s controversial health and sex standards in public schools.

This was probably the first time in history that nearly 300 Porsches were crawling along at less than 10 mph. Altogether, 275 coupes, convertibles and SUVs from the famous German carmaker synonymous with fast, sporty cars took it nice and easy for their grand entrance at the Porsche Boardwalk Reunion show Saturday. Val Mats, an Ocean City resident, marveled over the spectacle of so many high-performance cars rolling down the Boardwalk with such style. “My goodness,” Mats exclaimed.

Police Chief Jay Prettyman, who guided Ocean City’s public safety through the challenges of the pandemic and also oversaw a strategy for containing outbursts of rowdy teenage behavior during the summer tourism season, was honored by City Council on Thursday night on the eve of his retirement. Prettyman, 52, is stepping down Friday after serving as police chief since February 2019, and acting chief the year before that, during a 32-year career in law enforcement.

The federal agency that will oversee a major beach replenishment project this fall or winter for Ocean City, Sea Isle City and Strathmere is considering its options after bids for the contract came in significantly higher than the government's estimate.