Donald Wittkowski

Tim O’Brien scooped up a diamondback terrapin that was crawling perilously in the middle of the road next to the marshlands along Dory Drive in Ocean City’s south end. Right after he placed the turtle safely on the side of the roadway on Friday afternoon, he spotted another one that had blundered under his parked pickup truck. “When I see them in the road, I’ll take them in my truck until I can find a safe spot to release them,” O’Brien, the owner of Gold Coast Landscaping in Ocean City, explained of his turtle rescues. “There’s always a lot of them down here.”

Ocean City officials met Thursday with marina owners in the 300 block of Bay Avenue to devise plans to alleviate the perennial flooding that leaves the surrounding neighborhood and roads swamped with stormwater. First Ward Councilman Michael DeVlieger, who organized the informal strategy session, said local residents and the marina owners are united in wanting to see a continuous bulkhead built at Third Street to prevent bayfront flooding...

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word fanatic as someone “marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion.” Although there is no listing in the same dictionary for the word fin-atic, we feel pretty safe in telling you that it is someone marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion – to fishing...

City Council is expected to award a contract Thursday night for large video screens that will enhance the experience for concertgoers at Ocean City’s Music Pier. The project will be paid for by a $151,000 donation from the fund-raising arm of the Ocean City Pops, the hometown orchestra. Jon Batastini, chairman of the Friends of the Ocean City Pops, announced the donation on June 8...

In Ocean City, the crowds during typical summer weekends can often be huge in their own right. But they’re usually forgotten by the time the next weekend rolls around. On Fourth of July weekends, though, the crowds can truly be epic. Memories of them may last for years, if not a lifetime. This Fourth of July weekend may fall into that never-forget category. Sun-splashed skies and temperatures in the low 90s Sunday proved to be an irresistible draw for people wanting to celebrate the holiday at the Jersey Shore...

Some Jersey Shore towns use their water towers as a whimsical canvas to promote themselves or feature their iconic landmarks. In Longport, a huge smiley face peers out over the town on one side of the water tower and the words, “The Best Port: Longport” are inscribed on the other side. Margate’s water tower is adorned with an image of Lucy the Elephant, the gigantic wooden pachyderm that started as a real estate gimmick in 1881 and has since become the town’s signature tourist attraction. Sea Isle’s water tower cheers people up with the sentiment, “Smile … You’re in Sea Isle City”...

You would be hard-pressed to find another business that smells better than Artisan Body Products in Ocean City. Take a step inside and you’re greeted by an array of nose-pleasing fragrances drifting through the quaint soap and lotion shop at 918 Asbury Ave. “It pulls them in,” Artisan owner Ione Talese said of her customers. “But with the size of the store, it was a concern. I didn’t want it to overpower them.”

Roger Anderson spent three years searching for the car he wanted, a 1929 Ford Model A four door. When he finally found one, in Buffalo, N.Y., it was being auctioned off online and about 20 people were bidding on it. “My wife said, ‘Whatever you want,’” Anderson recalled of his desire to bid on the car. “So I did. I hit ‘click’ and I bought it.” On Saturday, Anderson brought his black Model A to the Jersey Cape Region Antique Automobile Club of America show in Ocean City, giving spectators a glimpse of the era when Al Capone was king of the Chicago mob, Herbert Hoover was president and America was just entering the Great Depression...

Bob and Maria Boyer, the owners of the Chatterbox Restaurant, threw a bash Friday to celebrate the 80th anniversary of their iconic, pink-hued eatery at the corner of Ninth Street and Central Avenue in downtown Ocean City...

Some 20 years ago, Ocean City decided to enhance the appearance of the downtown shopping district by dressing up the sidewalks with decorative redbrick pavers and small metal grates for shade trees. But what was thought of as a good idea then has come back to haunt the city. Over the years, those redbrick pavers and tree grates have caused the sidewalks to shift, settle and sink. That, in turn, has created a tripping hazard resulting in slip-and-fall lawsuits being filed against the city...