Donald Wittkowski

The dozens of photos piled on a table at Jeniffer Battersby’s Upper Township house show Christie Hess in ways that her friends and family members will always remember her – as a smiling, adventurous and vivacious woman who loved life and was ready to conquer any challenge. “She was never scared of anything. She once said that life is like a book and she wanted her chapters filled with amazing stories,” recalled Kelly Hess, Christie’s younger sister and a resident of Ocean City...

The twisting, serpentine-like mass of blue steel that soars 125 feet above the Boardwalk at 10th Street has almost a sinister look. Something as gnarly as this amusement ride should perhaps have a warning sign attached to it that says, “Hop aboard, if you dare.” Featuring some heart-pounding turns and drops, the Gale Force roller-coaster will propel riders at a top speed of 64 mph when it opens in mid-May as the new centerpiece of Playland’s Castaway Cove, the historic Ocean City amusement park. Brian Hartley, Playland’s vice president, said there has been a tremendous buildup of excitement ever since the ride was first announced in July 2015 and construction began in 2016. Thrill-seekers have been waiting...

Admit it, how many times have you been tempted to scratch your name or leave your handprints in the wet concrete of a freshly poured sidewalk? But when vandals come along and draw vulgar words or images in the concrete, that same sidewalk can become a public display of obscenity. Hoping to keep one step ahead of the graffiti artists, City Council has approved a new ordinance that requires homeowners to repair their new sidewalks, curbs or driveways if vandals strike...

City Council weighs possible ban for mass balloon releases

Donna Buker said a rainstorm last Thursday lasted only 30 minutes, but swamped the streets around her home at Seventh Street and Moore Avenue with about a foot of water. Although that much storm water would be extraordinary for most areas, it was hardly an aberration in Buker’s flood-prone neighborhood close to the bay in the north end of town, she explained. “Our house was built in 2006. The flooding has gotten increasingly worse since then,” she said. On Thursday night, Buker and her husband, Bob, appeared before City Council to plead for help from the flood waters. It appears they will get it. Mayor Jay Gillian assured them the city is moving ahead with designs for a series of pumping stations in the north end to ease the perennial flooding...

As Ocean City residents know all too well, one of the consequences of living on a low-lying barrier island is the epic battle against flooding. For the flood-prone neighborhoods between 26th and 34th streets in the midsection of town, it has been a particularly difficult struggle. However, the largest drainage project in the city’s history is about to get underway to ease flooding in a 24-block area of the Third Ward stretching from 26th Street to 34th Street between West Avenue and Bay Avenue...

As their son, Cameron, grew a little older, Daryl and Jennifer DiTroia wanted to find a sports program that was suited to his special needs as an autistic child. Put in the same situation, most parents probably would have enrolled their son in the local Little League or perhaps a soccer, basketball or football camp. After giving it some thought, what did the DiTroias do? They created their own program. From scratch...

At 85, Regis Philbin says he’s pretty much accomplished everything he’s wanted to do in his personal and professional life. He’s teamed up with Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa in his celebrated role as morning talk show personality, helped to make contestants rich as host of the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and spent more time in front of a TV camera than anyone else, according to Guinness World Records. So, after a 61-year career in show business, what possibly is left for Philbin to add to his entertainment resume?

They attended a fashion show Friday night. On Saturday, they did some shopping, indulged in a massage and then went out for dinner. On Sunday, they topped it all off with some more shopping. For best friends Lynn Broderick and Lori Gilliam, it was a whirlwind weekend of fun and relaxation that cost them only $250 each, including their room at an oceanfront hotel...

John Kearney joked that he blames his mother for his obsession with a pop phenomenon that has continued for 40 years. “She took me to the movies in 1977,” he recalled. The movie he saw then was “Star Wars,” which led to Kearney’s penchant for dressing up like one of the imposing Imperial Stormtroopers, the ground forces of the evil Galactic Empire and Darth Vader. Shrouded in the distinctive white body armor and the sculpted helmet of a Stormtrooper, Kearney made the rounds at the OC-Con show Saturday at the Ocean City Music Pier on the Boardwalk...