Donald Wittkowski

Gloria Votta remembers the father who walked into Ocean City’s Ecumenical Council Clothes Closet about two years ago accompanied by his young son, who was wearing only a T-shirt in the cold weather. “The father said, ‘He doesn’t have a coat. Do you have a coat that fits him?’” Votta recalled. Fortunately, the Clothes Closet had just received a new donation of coats then. Votta looked inside a bag of coats and found one that fit the young boy. Those coats were among the donations given at that time to the Ocean City Board of Realtors as part of its annual Warmth for the Winter Clothing Drive...

An Ocean City Housing Authority commissioner who helped the agency recover from an embezzlement scandal this year involving its former executive director will be posthumously honored by having a new building named in his memory. The authority announced Tuesday during its monthly board meeting that a proposed $4.2 million affordable-housing project will be named in honor of Edmond C. Speitel Sr., who died on Sept. 11 at the age of 61. Also at the meeting, the authority swore in three new commissioners to finally bring its seven-member board up to full strength. The commissioners are Mike Dattilo, a former Ocean City business administrator, M. Sean Scarborough, a prominent residential and commercial developer, and Beverly McCall, an attorney...

They were resplendent in their pajamas, fluffy robes, snowman-decorated leggings and goofy Santa Claus caps. To top off their flamboyant outfits, they chose outrageously gaudy, matching pink sunglasses. “So, how do we look?” Joyce Scholz said invitingly to a passerby on Asbury Avenue in the heart of downtown Ocean City. Knowing full well what the answer would be, Scholz and her friends Dawn Talvacchio, Joan McLaughlin and Cass Cebular burst into laughter. Although their appearance was something to poke fun at, the four women were in Ocean City on Saturday morning to do some serious shopping...00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

City Council approved a $650,000 funding package Thursday night to acquire a high-profile piece of land through eminent domain, but the property owner has plans to redevelop the site and is vowing a court fight to keep it. The dispute is over a strategically located site at the corner of Bay Avenue and Ninth Street overlooking the main gateway into Ocean City. The city hopes to transform the vacant property into a landscaped park, but the local real estate company Keller Williams wants to use it to build a new corporate office...

The Ocean City Board of Education honored a veritable all-star lineup of administrators and faculty members Wednesday night, including two who have been named the top state winners in their respective fields – Superintendent of the Year Kathleen Taylor and Teacher of the Year Amy Andersen. At the same meeting, the board paid tribute to one of its own, Thomas Oves Jr., who died Oct. 22 at the age of 54. Oves, a retired teacher who had been a school board member since 2009, had formerly served as its vice president and was the chairman of the buildings and grounds committee...

Someday, Julianne Mackey hopes to finish a 9-foot-by-12-foot wool rug she is meticulously sewing by hand. “Let me put it this way, this was something I started in 1991 and I’m still working on it. It’s one of three big rugs that are on my bucket list to finish,” said Mackey, owner of the Palm Cottage North rug-hooking studio in St. Johnsbury, Vt. The wool alone will cost thousands of dollars, not to mention all of the hours Mackey has toiled to complete the project...

Cape May County Republican Freeholders Will Morey and Jeffrey Pierson cruised to victory Tuesday night, while Sen. Jeff Van Drew led a Democratic sweep in the First Legislative District. In New Jersey’s top race, Democrat and former Wall Street executive Phil Murphy defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno to win the governor’s seat. Guadagno served in the No. 2 position for eight years under Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who was restricted from running for a third term. Morey and Pierson beat back a challenge from Democrats Danielle Davies and Gregory Wall, both political newcomers, to keep the five-member Cape May County freeholder board entirely in Republican control...

New Jersey voters go to the polls Tuesday to elect a new governor as well as key state, county and local representatives. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Gov. Chris Christie, who has served the last eight years, is restricted from seeking a third term. In the race to succeed Gov. Christie, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, a Republican, is facing Democrat Phil Murphy, a former Wall Street executive...

Shhhhhhhh. Be quiet. Hush up. We’re serious. No loud noises, no screaming, no disturbing the peace of any kind. The whole point of Ocean City’s two-day Quiet Festival unfolding this weekend is to enjoy the sweet sounds of silence. This is, after all, the time of year when the throngs of (noisy) summer tourists are long gone and the year-round residents begin to enjoy what are supposed to be the tranquil off-season months...

Carrie Merritt joked that it was as good a day as any to “torture myself.” As the sun was barely rising and temperatures hovered in the chilly 40s, she set out Saturday morning on a challenging run that has become a fall tradition for the neighboring towns of Ocean City and Somers Point. Merritt, a first-grade teacher at the Ocean City Primary School, was the top female finisher in the 27th annual Trail of Two Cities 5K Run connecting Ocean City with Somers Point over the Route 52 Causeway...