Donald Wittkowski

Recognizing the importance of the municipal airport for visitors and vacationers, Ocean City officials are planning to give the facility a facelift in 2024. The project will be highlighted by a new terminal building that will include a restaurant offering sweeping views of the surrounding bayside.

Members of City Council and Mayor Jay Gillian are in line for a pay raise that will nearly double their salaries. Council introduced an ordinance at Thursday night’s meeting that would increase the annual salary for the seven members of Ocean City’s governing body to $20,000 and would hike the mayor’s pay to $40,000.

City Council said goodbye Thursday night to former Fourth Ward Councilman Bob Barr and appointed a new member to fill the vacancy on Ocean City’s governing body until the November election. Voting 6-0, Council selected former Board of Education member and longtime Ocean City resident Dave Winslow to temporarily succeed Barr. Winslow was endorsed by Barr for the Fourth Ward seat and was the only candidate considered by Council.

Three vehicles were stolen in Ocean City in the early morning hours Thursday, marking the latest batch of auto thefts in a beach community that is experiencing an upward trend in stolen cars in the last two years. A BMW, a Kia and a GMC Jeep were stolen from outside homes in the Merion Park and Waterway Road neighborhoods between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. A fourth vehicle, which had been stolen in Hammonton, was recovered in Ocean City, according to a news release.

Bob Barr, an Ocean City councilman, likes to tout his local roots of being born and raised in Cape May County. Now, he will have the honor of representing the entire county in his new role as the newest member of the Cape May County Board of Commissioners. Barr, 41, was appointed to the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday night to fill the unexpired term of E. Marie Hayes. The vacancy opened up when Hayes resigned from the board to become the new county surrogate. Barr has been serving as Ocean City’s Fourth Ward councilman since 2016, but resigned effective immediately to join the Board of Commissioners.

Carefree Boat Club of South Jersey has teamed up with the iconic Ray Scott’s Dock in Margate for its newest location as it continues to expand at the shore in what is now its fifth season. Carefree started in 2019 with operations in Avalon at the Commodore Bay Marina at 900 Ocean Drive and expanded into the Ocean City market in 2022 with a new location at the All-Seasons Marina at 551 Roosevelt Boulevard in neighboring Marmora. Sean McNulty, Carefree’s co-owner and membership director, said the newly launched expansion at Ray Scott’s Dock on the bayfront at 9211 Amherst Ave. places the boat club in the heart of Margate’s restaurant and bar scene.

Ocean City police are urging owners to lock their vehicles and remove the keys following the theft of a car and an SUV this week in the upscale Gardens section in the north end of town. A Volkswagen Jetta was stolen from Bridge Boulevard last Sunday and an Acura MDX was taken from the unit block of Central Avenue on Thursday. Both had their keys in them when they were stolen, Police Chief Jay Prettyman said.

Opponents of a proposed wind energy farm off the South Jersey coast will link hands on the beaches Saturday in a protest symbolizing their unified fight against a project they believe will be an environmental and economic disaster. They will be on the beach starting at 11 a.m. from 14th Street in Ocean City heading north toward Atlantic City to underscore the message that opponents do not want 98 towering wind turbines in the waters 15 miles off the coast.

Only a day after the federal government approved the project, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian wasted no time blasting plans for New Jersey’s first offshore wind energy farm and all but labeled the speedy regulatory review process a sham. “The review process for this project moved so fast that it has proved to be an exercise in checking boxes,” Gillian said in a highly critical statement that he read during a City Council meeting Thursday night.

The last time Philly fans saw this many Eagles in one place, it was in the Super Bowl last February against the Kansas City Chiefs. But there they were: Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Dallas Goedert, Landon Dickerson and Jake Elliot, as well as former Eagles Connor Barwin, Trent Cole and Todd Herremans. Topping all of that star power was All-Pro and Pro-Bowl Eagles center Jason Kelce and his All-Pro and Pro-Bowl tight end brother, Travis Kelce, of the Chiefs. Jason Kelce was swarmed by hundreds of adoring fans for autographs and selfies during his annual celebrity bartending appearance Wednesday in Sea Isle City to raise money for the Eagles Autism Foundation.