U.S Mail truck fire injures Margate postal worker and 9 other stories you may have missed (2024)

MARGATE— A U.S. Postal Service worker was injured Sunday afternoon after his truck caught fire on Clarendon Avenue, Fire Chief Dan Adams said.

Firefighters and police officers responded to the intersection of Clarendon and Amherst Avenues and located the truck engulfed in flames at 1:42 p.m., Adams said.

The fire was quickly knocked down but the overhaul process was extensive as the truck was full of Amazon packages, Adams said.

The postal employee was transported to Shore Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries, Adams said.

A fence on an adjacent property also sustained damage during the fire. The homeowners were not present at the time but were notified by police, Adams said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

NORTH WILDWOOD— A man was arrested Saturday night after allegedly brandishing a handgun causing the temporary evacuation of an amusem*nt park pier, police said.

Surfside Pier, owned and operated by Morey's Piers, was shut down at 7:15 p.m. while the incident, which was unrelated to the pier, was being investigated, according to Kyle Morey, the amusem*nt park's marketing director.

"On our facilities, no one was apprehended, nor was any weapon present," Morey said in a statement. "The NWPD requested that we evacuate Surfside Pier to investigate a matter that was unrelated to Morey’s Piers, our guests, or employees. We complied with that request."

The individual was located and taken into custody. No one was injured during the incident, police said.

The pier reopened shortly after the incident, Morey said.

ABSECON— Police have issued 222 violations during 175 motor vehicle stops this month as part of an effort to crack down on aggressive driving on the White Horse Pike, police said Friday.

The primary goal of the campaign, sponsored by the Atlantic-Cape May Regional Highway Traffic Safety Office, is to reduce serious injuries and fatalities, police said in a news release.

Aggressive driving behaviors, including speeding, are major contributors to crashes, police said.

The campaign is expected to continue at various dates and times throughout the summer, police said.

VENTNOR — The city is seeking a $20 million low-interest loan to cover the first two phases of its lead pipe replacement program.

“We are eligible for forgiveness of 50% of the principal of these low-interest loans. However, recognizing that future terms and eligibility criteria for federal loans may not be as favorable in the future, we decided to consolidate the first two phases of our program into one," Mayor Tim Kriebel said Thursday.

The Board of Commissioners approved the application during their meeting June 13.

The city approved a $22 million bond ordinance last August so it could start applying for grant funding to cover the cost of replacing lead water service lines across the city.

Ventnor was one of 10 municipalities in the state selected in November to receive technical support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help identify and replace the lead lines.

Commissioner Lance Landgraf said although there was no set monetary value for the technical support the city would receive, the award would help with the cost of engineering, in addition to informing people about the project.

He estimated the cost to replace the pipes throughout the city was about $66 million.

"This approach allows us to leverage the maximum savings as soon as possible, ensuring we benefit fully from the current repayment terms,” Kriebel said Thursday.

Municipalities across the state are working to comply with 2021 legislation signed by Gov. Phil Murphy that requires municipal, private and publicly traded water systems to replace pipes made of lead or other galvanized materials the law deems harmful by July 22, 2031.

This is to mitigate potential lead poisoning, which could cause health problems and other potential hazards that stem from galvanized piping.

A report from the state Office of Legislative Services found there was a total of 2.4 million service lines across 582 water systems in the state.

The state projected the total cost for municipalities replacing every lead service line by the 10-year deadline would be about $2.65 billion.

The replacements would cost the state more than $2 billion.

COMMERCIAL TOWNSHIP— A Millville woman was killed and four children were injured early Thursday after her vehicle was struck by a dump truck at Highland Street and Steep Run Road, State Police said.

Brandy Woolson, 43, was driving an SUV on Highland when her vehicle approached the intersection and was hit by the dump truck driven by a 55-year-old Port Norris man at 9 a.m., said State Police, who did not name the dump truck driver.

Woolson was pronounced dead at the scene, State Police said.

A 16-year-old girl, two 4-year-old boys and a 2-year-old girl in the SUV were transported to an area hospital, State Police said. The dump truck driver also suffered minor injuries.

Investigators determined the dump truck failed to stop at a stop sign and hit the vehicle, State Police said.

The crash remains under investigation.

A former Pleasantville teacher and Ocean City lifeguard was sentenced to four years' probation for a 2021 assault, Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland said Thursday.

Jonathan Howell, 42, of the Marmora section of Upper Township, was sentenced by Judge J. Christopher Gibson for his guilty plea made earlier this year to endangering the welfare of a child. Howell also mustforfeit any future public employment.

Howell was indicted Jan. 21, 2023, on charges of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, official misconduct and two counts of endangering. He was employed as a teacher in the Pleasantville School District as well as by the Ocean City Beach Patrol when he was charged June 2, 2022.

The Prosecutor’s Office began investigating the Ocean City Beach Patrol after claims surfaced on social media in April 2021, according to a prior news release.More than 160 posts were found on an Instagram account, @ocbp_predators, that solicited stories of sexual harassment involving the Beach Patrol. The names were redacted online, so identities were protected.

The posts prompted Ocean City to hire a private investigator, who then entered into a joint effort with the Prosecutor’s Office, city officials said in 2022 following the hiring.

An Atlantic City man who admitted shooting another man in the head on the Boardwalk nearly two years ago was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said.

Wesley Briscoe, 20, pleaded guilty Feb. 21 to aggravated assault, pointing a firearm and hindering apprehension.

Briscoe also will be subject to three years of parole supervision upon release, the Prosecutor's Office said Thursday in a news release.

On July 9, 2022, Briscoe shot a 20-year-old man in the head, hiding his clothes afterward to avoid police detection, authorities said. Surveillance video showed him riding his bicycle to the Boardwalk before the shooting. He was arrested in September 2022.

ABSECON— The bishop of Camden has named Michael C. McGhee the new principal of Holy Spirit High School, the diocese said Thursday.

“I am pleased to welcome Mr. McGhee to Holy Spirit High School and the ministry of Catholic Secondary education in the Diocese of Camden,” said Bill Watson, superintendent for the Diocese of Camden Office of Schools. “We are blessed and delighted to have someone with the depth and breadth of education and experience that Mr. McGhee brings to Holy Spirit High School. I know that he will find tremendous support from the Board of Trustees, the faculty and members of the administrative team, the Holy Spirit community, as well as the Catholic community of Atlantic County.”

McGhee, a 1988 graduate of Holy Spirit, comes into the position after spending 21 years with the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, most recently serving as principal of Oakcrest High School in Hamilton Township for six years. Prior to becoming principal there, McGhee spent two years as vice principal and six years as the supervisor of special education.

He also spent 10 years at Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City and held a variety of positions, including assistant principal, athletic director and supervisor of special education, performing arts, fine arts, media and the health office.

“My belief as an administrator and educator is that we should want all of our students to succeed in life," McGhee said. "What’s more is that the success of every student we have contributes to the success of the entire community. It will benefit us all. I am also looking forward to supporting the already great work of the faculty and staff of Holy Spirit and continuing that work and tradition, challenged by Pope Francis, to educate our students with a value-based Catholic education."

School board Chair Mara Marczyk praised the committee involved in the principal search for its hard work.

“As Holy Spirit High School embarks on its second century of educating students of Atlantic County with the foundation of the teachings of Jesus and service to others, it is imperative that Holy Spirit meets the needs and challenges of today’s students and families," Marczyk said.

A dead humpback whale was found floating in the Delaware Bay off Cumberland County, officials with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center confirmed Friday.

The animal’s remains were seen in the upper bay off Gandys Beach in Downe Township.

No cause of death for the animal has been confirmed, said Jay Pagel, the stranding coordinator for the Brigantine-based center.

Stranding center staff have not inspected the whale.

“We’ve had our hands full with live animals,” Pagel said.

The stranding center is still caring for several seals that were stranded on beaches before the start of summer, he said.

Images of the animal on the surface of the water were posted to the Facebook page Protect Our Coast, where users had no doubt that offshore wind power projects were to blame.

“The only way to stop it, is to tell all your friends, to tell all of their friends, to tell all of their friends, to tell all of their friends to vote for the candidates running for every office (state and federal) who are against wind turbines,” wrote one poster.

Offshore wind projects have mapped the ocean floor off Cape May and Atlantic counties in preparation for building wind turbines within federal leasing areas.

Online tracking data of ships and boats underway show several passenger and shipping vessels and some fishing boats in the Delaware Bay and off Cape May County, but there do not appear to be any boats engaged in undersea mapping.

Some wind power opponents speculate that the sound used to map the ocean bottom may harm whales, or disrupt their sense of direction. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been tacking an elevated number of humpback whale deaths since 2016. NOAA scientists say “there is no known links between large whale deaths and ongoing offshore wind activities,” an assertion met with deep skepticism from critics of offshore wind energy development.

About 40% of the whale deaths investigated show evidence of human interaction, including entanglement and vessel strikes. An outline of where dead whales have been reported since 2016 shows two at the mouth of the Delaware Bay and three close to the Delaware River, one in the Cohansey River and two more on the Delaware side of the bay.

In October 2016, a female humpback was found near Wilmington.

“It happens from time to time,” Pagel said.

Humpback whales were close to extinction and listed as endangered in the 1970s. The population has made dramatic gains, with some populations no longer listed as endangered as of 2016, although the animals are still federally protected.

Whale watching tours out of Cape May regularly report humpback whale sightings, along with numerous dolphin sightings and other marine life.

With the 12 reported this year, there have been 224 humpback whale deaths reported from Maine to Florida since 2016, including 30 in New Jersey. That number does not include other whale species and does not appear to include the animal currently in the bay.

SEA ISLE CITY— Landis Avenue will be closed from 85th to 87th streets starting Monday for water main repairs, police said.

Northbound and southbound traffic will be detoured to Pleasure Avenue to repair a water main at 86th and Landis Avenue.

Local traffic will be able to get to their residence or place of business during the closure.

The road closure will remain in effect until the repair is completed, police said.