Donald Wittkowski

Among New Jersey shore towns, Ocean City is the undisputed king of beach tag sales. It is the only city to annually crack $4 million in annual beach tag revenue. No other town comes close. That’s why Ocean City’s beach tag sales are such a closely watched indicator of the strength of the summer tourism season. So far this year, revenue is pretty much running neck and next with last year’s figures, said Frank Donato, the city’s chief financial officer...

Say goodbye to those discount tickets that give motorists a break on the toll for the five bridges connecting Cape May County’s seashore towns along the scenic Ocean Drive. The Cape May County Bridge Commission will stop selling the tickets starting Aug. 1 as part of its introduction of the automated E-ZPass toll system. However, there are old tickets still out there that have no expiration date, allowing motorists to use them indefinitely, commission officials said...

The city has placed the so-called mobi-mats at more than 50 beaches throughout town, part of an array of features to improve access to the shoreline. Made of hard plastic, the mats create a footpath that saves beach-goers from the trouble of trudging through thick, powdery sand. Yet they stop short of the water’s edge.

A 7-year-old boy was reported in stable condition after he was hit by a car Friday morning while crossing Bay Avenue near 18th Street in Ocean City. It was the second accident in only two days involving a child being struck by a vehicle in town. On Wednesday morning, a teenage girl riding a bicycle suffered minor leg injuries when she was hit at the intersection of Sixth Street and Atlantic Avenue, police said. Mayor Jay Gillian issued a public statement urging motorists and pedestrians to obey all traffic laws and use “extreme caution” while out on the road during the busy summer vacation season...

In only 12 months, Ocean City’s public housing agency has made a “remarkable” turnaround after reeling from an embezzlement scandal that prompted a series of management and financial reforms, officials said Tuesday while reporting on the results of a new audit. In 2017, the Ocean City Housing Authority was struggling to rebuild its shaky finances following the guilty plea of its former executive director, Alesia Watson, on federal embezzlement charges. A week after Watson’s guilty plea on May 8, 2017, the housing authority hired the Ocean City accounting firm of Ford-Scott & Associates LLC to conduct an audit of the agency’s finances for 2016. The audit came up with 15 “findings” needing corrective action...

A two-year debate over the fate of the antiquated Public Safety Building took a different turn Thursday night when City Council hired an architect to develop concepts for a new complex for the police department and municipal court at another location. Up to this point, Mayor Jay Gillian and Council had focused on the possibility of renovating the existing building or replacing it with a new facility at the current location at Eighth Street and Central Avenue, next to City Hall in the heart of downtown. But the conceptual design study approved by Council on Thursday will look at the possibility of building a new public safety complex at 16th Street and Simpson Avenue on the outskirts of the downtown business district...

Mixing piety and patriotism, Oliver North spoke of his devotion to God and country during an appearance Sunday at an Ocean City church that attracted an overflow crowd of admirers inside the building but drew protesters outside. In remarks to more than 1,000 churchgoers at the Ocean City Tabernacle, North talked about his spiritual awakening while he was still serving in the military and how his religious beliefs continue to guide his life. North, 74, repeatedly referred to the teachings of the Bible during a 30-minute speech that took on a sermon-like quality at times, but also touched on U.S. history, military heroics and contemporary society while mingling in humorous personal anecdotes...

One of Ben Mahala’s friends told him about a spot that he insisted was the best place in Ocean City to catch clams. So, Mahala, a commercial clammer who lives in Pennsville, Salem County, hitched his 17-foot flat bottom boat to his Dodge pickup truck on Saturday morning and made the 90-minute drive to Ocean City to check it out for himself. After spending about five hours out on the water, he returned to shore with a haul of about 235 big clams. “The clams here are outstanding,” he said, holding a few in his hands as proof. “They are plentiful.” Mahala used Ocean City’s boat ramp at the bay end of Tennessee Avenue for access to the water. As the only public boat ramp in the city, it is a haven for boaters, kayakers, paddleboarders and Wave Runner and Jet Ski riders...

There were scooters, baby carriages, toy wagons and hundreds of bicycles rolling through the Gardens section of Ocean City in a red, white and blue procession that got the Fourth of July celebration off in grand style. With the blast of the sirens from a fire engine, the bike parade started on Wesley Road at 10 a.m. accompanied by a police escort and then slowly made its way along the residential streets in the upscale north end of town. Stretching for blocks, the parade is one of the traditions of Ocean City’s old-fashioned Independence Day festivities. Organizers estimated it has been held for at least 20 years and usually attracts around 1,000 bicyclists...

For the second time in four weeks, Ocean City’s public housing agency has rejected construction bids that came in significantly higher than its proposed $4.2 million senior citizens complex. Four competitive bids ranging from about $5.5 million to $5.8 million were submitted June 28 by companies vying for the Ocean City Housing Authority’s construction contract. The authority, however, rejected the bids and now plans to negotiate directly with the contractors for a price closer to $4.2 million. “By law, we are able to negotiate,” said Bob Barr, the Ocean City councilman who also serves as chairman of the housing authority’s board of commissioners...