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The Ocean City School Board election will give voters plenty of candidates to choose from with three seats open and seven candidates running in the Nov. 7 election. As of the filing deadline July 31, incumbents Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes and Robin Shaffer handed their petitions in to the Cape May County Board of Elections. The other candidates are as follows, Michael Allegretto, Steve Flogaus, Corey Niemiec, Jocelyn Palaganas and Kevin Schaffer, according to capemaycountyvotes.com. Longtime Board of Education member and current vice president of the school board, Joe Clark, is not seeking reelection. Cape May County Clerk Rita Rothberg said that in recent years, there has been a growing excitement for school board races. School board elections were held in the spring prior to 2012. “Especially with changing the deadline, now we have many contested races for school board,” Rothberg pointed out. She also noticed something else about the school board elections. “People are more involved and aware of the issues that their children and the schools are facing,” Rothberg said. “It is nice to see all of the interest.” Voters will get sample ballots and if they are on the list, they will get a mail-in ballot...

Olivia Margulis realizes that when people think of the shore, one bird usually comes to mind – the seagull. But there are many others that grace the skies and contribute as well. Margulis, 26, marketing director for the children’s boutique, Bowfish Kids in Ocean City, wants people to take notice of another bird. Diminutive, it is sometimes overlooked, yet it plays an important role. It is the sandpiper. Margulis, of Ocean City, was inspired to write about the sandpipers. And with the support of Bowfish Kids shop owner, Caitlin Quirk, and the rest of the Bowfish team, she wrote a 24-page children’s book following the adventures of “Pip” the sandpiper.

Tim and Kate Campbell knew they had to do something special to keep the fun, camaraderie and neighborly cheer going, even though Ocean City’s annual Night in Venice boat parade was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Campbells, who live on the Carnival Lagoon, came up with “The Great OC Lagoon Race.” Now in its fourth year, it brings kayakers and paddleboarders out to the 16th and 17th Street lagoons -- Carnival and Venetian -- for some friendly competition with races that take water sports enthusiasts around the bay.

The Pinkerton family lost their beloved family pets and all of their belongings when lightning struck their Upper Township home Saturday night. Now, a GoFundMe page has been set up for the Pinkertons to help them rebuild their lives.

The search for a new Ocean City superintendent of schools is underway and is moving along at a good pace, officials said Tuesday. “We completed the first round of interviews and plan to have a second round in the upcoming weeks,” Board of Education President Chris Halliday said.

Boats in the Night in Venice parade in Ocean City sought cover and headed to shore, docking at the Bayside Center and other boat slips along the route, as lightning flashed overhead and thunder rumbled over the bay on Saturday evening. Some people on the boats in the parade and some spectators on shore questioned the city’s decision to hold the parade, when forecasts warned that there was a strong likelihood that powerful storms would hit Ocean City and surrounding areas. Ocean City officials said that safety protocols were followed.

Everyone loves a parade, and at Night in Venice in Ocean City on Saturday thousands of spectators viewed the procession of decorated boats along the bayfront in this year’s theme, “It’s a Philly Thing." But not all the shouts and oohs were for the zany parade. A few were reserved for the lighting strikes seen overhead when a thunderstorm swept through the area. As the claps of thunder came, along with the flashes of lightning and looming black clouds, the city called for a delay.

There is no mistaking that America’s Greatest Family Resort offers lots of topics to discuss and debate. Whether it’s the impending threat of windmills darkening the shoreline or colossal hotels being built in the dunes along the Boardwalk, there is a lot going on in Ocean City. Tired of hearing the same old politically correct jargon, two “local” guys – Drew Fasy and Dominick Dougherty - made it their mission to dig deeper and confront these issues head-on with their podcast – The OCNJ Local. The podcast is all about Ocean City and Fasy and Dougherty aren’t afraid to voice their opinions and are taking no prisoners along the way. Fasy and Dougherty, who met as coaches for the Ocean City Junior Raiders Football program, recognized that so much information about Ocean City was very surface level and no further diligence was ever really offered. Being “locals” to Ocean City, the pair wanted to dive below the surface of what the elected officials in Ocean City want you to think and focus more on, than the truth. From this concept, The OCNJ Local podcast was born. Early episodes include topics surrounding the proposed high-rise hotel on the Boardwalk and the ongoing controversy surrounding the offshore wind farm project. Fasy and Dougherty go behind the scenes to find more insider information and details around these topics that previously haven’t been reported on. No strangers to controversy, the fourth episode – “Why Can’t We All Just Get Along” digs into the hierarchy that seemingly exists in Ocean City. The hierarchy begins with a day-tripper all the way up to the pinnacle of elite Ocean City status – a native. A native is someone who was born in and has lived their entire life in Ocean City. While much of this debate is tongue-in-cheek, there is clearly truth in the topic. If you love Ocean City, make it a point to listen to The OCNJ Local podcast. It’s informative and insightful and the hosts banter and comedic approach make it a fun journey. You can find The OCNJ Local podcast on Apple and Spotify...

The festive holiday season may seem a long way off, especially as the temps soar into the 90s for much of the area and around Ocean City this week. But the holidays will come soon enough and Ocean City is sparing no time to get ready. That includes installing new decorative lighting in the downtown. The new lighting would not only illuminate the shopping district, but also replace the fixtures that are not tall enough to provide adequate height for the swag, bows and garland, that create the festive atmosphere each year. City Council approved a resolution at Thursday night’s Council meeting to go out to bid for light improvements along Asbury Avenue from Eighth to 10th Streets. The project would cost an estimated $1 million for every two blocks of new lighting. The city’s goal is to complete Sixth to 14th Streets in the city’s main corridor for shopping, in yearly increments, city officials explained...

Ocean City officials are doing an “anti-rain dance” in hopes that their premier summer event – the annual Night in Venice boat parade Saturday – won’t have to be postponed or cancelled due to possible thunderstorms. Night in Venice Committee Chairman Dave Winslow addressed City Council Thursday and stressed that the celebration will go off as planned and, “It won’t rain on our parade.” At the same time, Winslow acknowledged that if there are thunderstorms, then the parade, which has a start time of 6 p.m., would have to be postponed or canceled, as would be the case for the fireworks that follow.