Columns
-
•July 2, 2025
Sturgeons in General: Rare Fish Seen But Remains Off Limits
The state has issued an alert on one the rarest fish a-swim in our waters. It reads “NJDEP Fish & Wildlife has received recent reports of Atlantic sturgeon sightings in our waterways. … DO NOT…
-
•July 2, 2025
British Suffer Costly Victory
In June 1775, the first major battle of the American War for Independence was fought at Bunker Hill outside Boston. Here the disorganized local militia, outnumbered, short of gunpowder and without…
-
•June 29, 2025
Having a Hot Time Works for Tourists, But Not for Bees
For some reason, I feel compelled to write about heat this week, possibly due to its being unseasonably torrid, hotter than a witch’s … wait, that doesn’t work, does it?
-
•June 26, 2025
Someone Switched on Summer, The Benefits of a Good Small-Wave Board and When to Watch the Tropics
Where in the world can you see a humpback whale, a hip hop show, a rainbow and a burst of flora all in the same weekend? They can show up at barrier islands at the same time. And it would mean that…
-
•June 26, 2025
Eliot Lewis of Hall & Oates Fame Brings Storied Solo Act to Lizzie Rose
His coming of age story was written, note for note, in jam sessions with some of rock music’s most revered icons. He has spent his adult life enriching that story and telling it through song all over…
-
•June 25, 2025
British Move in on Bunker’s Hill
Today we follow wars with minute-by-minute or day-by-day updates. It’s hard for us to think it wasn’t always this way.
-
•June 18, 2025
Betty Tuesdays Bring Indie Music Front and Center in Beach Haven
Summer is in full swing on Long Beach Island and nightlife is hopping even on rainy days. The days are growing longer, and many of our favorite local cover bands have taken earlier shifts to make way…
-
•June 18, 2025
King for a Day: Why Not Give Royalty a Go?
There was a nod-worthy showing for Saturday’s “No Kings” rally in Ship Bottom.
-
•June 18, 2025
British Army Confounded by Colonists
A series of events took place in June 1775 that changed the course of American history.
-
•June 18, 2025
When Sharks Fall From the Sky; Surf’s Been Down as Water Temp Has Been Up
I definitely prefer disc golf vibes to golf/country club vibes, but that’s a matter of personal preference. I’m not going to pretend I know much about either sport. But the disk golfers we met on the…
-
•June 11, 2025
Cut-Offs and Flip Flops: Timeless Summer Sexy Supermarket Style Watching
There’s a certain comfort in going to the supermarket in June – something about seeing locals wearing cut-offs and flip flops doing that most mundane chore of grocery shopping that has an endearing…
-
•June 11, 2025
Throwing a UV Beam in Hopes of Finding Hidden Luminosities
I’m planning some black ops. No awful intent, mind you. I’m simply going deeply nocturnal, seeking secretive glows within forests – and quarries. I’ll explain.
-
•June 11, 2025
East Two Three on Their LBI Takeover
It’s been said before that Long Beach Island is unmatched in terms of its support for local music, much of which is nurtured on the open mic circuit during the off-season. Such is the story for…
-
•June 11, 2025
Tale of the Illegitimate Governor
Today there are calls for an investigation into the legality of documents signed by an autopen controlled by an unelected aide to an allegedly impaired president. A look at the New Jersey election of…
-
•June 4, 2025
Viral DJ CONST Reps NJ All Over the World
Anyone who’s been part of Jersey’s nightlife scene, especially on LBI, knows Erin Constantine, aka CONST. She’s a resident DJ on SiriusXM’s BPM station every Monday through Friday from noon to 5, but…
-
•June 4, 2025
Scary Text Messages From Robots, Film Fest This Weekend and Mixed Reviews on the Waves
I got a text from a robot the other day, and I’m pretty sure it spells bad news for our town. She said her name was Kim. I have my doubts.
-
•June 4, 2025
Someone’s at Fault: Sneaky Seismic Crack Looms Off the Coast
When a local speaks of the “The Big One” hitting LBI, our Island-centric minds default to a weather event of monumental, even 500-year, proportions. Sandy is now considered a 100-year storm; you do…
-
•June 4, 2025
Ocean County Celebrates 175 Years
As I was working on the articles to commemorate Ship Bottom’s centennial, it was pointed out there was another local milestone that should be remembered: Ocean County is celebrating its 175th…
-
•May 28, 2025
Taking Account of the Weekend It Was Up There With the Biggest
There’s not a ton of ways to accurately tabulate how many humans put themselves upon LBI during a holiday weekend, but I can confidently say this Memorial Day weekend saw a high-viz tonload of…
-
•May 28, 2025
Gratitude to the Fallen Who Died for First Amendment Rights; How Protest Music Shaped America
Every year, Memorial Day weekend ushers in a preliminary summer, as Long Beach Island shakes off the cold, damp spring and welcomes back beachers, barflies and everyone in between. It’s important to…
-
•May 28, 2025
Coast Guardsmen Go to Prison
Throughout the summer of 1926, the Coast Guard stations on Long Beach Island were the location of a series of secret federal trials. Members of the Coast Guard were accused of taking bribes to allow…
-
•May 28, 2025
Big Holiday Weekend Gives Way to Pleasantries of Early Summer
As Memorial Day weekends go, that was pretty tame. I didn’t hear of any mass casualties at the Ship Bottom Circle predicted by every community Facebook commenter for the last three weeks.
-
•May 27, 2025
Summer’s Dog Days Invite Registering of American Favorites; Why Seedy Weddings Are Uncalled For
Memorial Day: a prime steppingstone toward summer. More importantly, it’s a time to remember those who gave everything so we’d be able to enjoy holiday weekends.
-
•May 25, 2025
What Constitutes a Great Summer as We Usher In Coming Season
Well, that new traffic pattern at the Ship Bottom Circle is going to give us all plenty to talk about at the big backyard gatherings and dock bars. Whether you’re local or summer folk, whether you’re…
-
•May 22, 2025
Michaelina Petti Full Sends With ‘Witherspoon Ave’
The last half-decade has been the longest, shortest, strangest wormhole experience of time for many of us. It particularly feels that way for anyone who has been following singer-songwriter…
-
•May 21, 2025
Coast Guard Scandal Blows Up
As you celebrate a centennial, sometimes you overlook the bad. The LBI Coast Guard scandal of 1926 was quickly becoming a symbol of the failure of Prohibition and the Volstead Act that enforced it.
-
•May 15, 2025
The Real ID Dilemma as We Can Finally Call This Spring
I figure this week I would go and get my Real ID, specifically since we were supposed to have it by last week. I’ve been putting it off. I guess technically, I’ve been putting it off since it was…
-
•May 15, 2025
Fringe Performer Teaches Harmonica Through Interactive Theater
Anyone who identifies as a performer or a creative in any sense has probably been challenged by the older generation to do something more “legitimate” with their time, faced with the question “What…
-
•May 14, 2025
Talk of the Walk: Circle Traffic Flow Falling Into Place
Last weekend was as ideal as LBI and nature can offer. To greet the weatherly wonderfulness, I opted to travel to the mysterious north, speaking of Barnegat Light – beyond which one falls off the…
-
•May 14, 2025
Coast Guardsmen Caught Red-Handed
By the time Ship Bottom became a town in 1925, the U.S. Life-saving Service had become part of the U.S. Coast Guard. As the town celebrates its centennial we should remember the bad with the good.
