Hurricane Sandy

Officials: As Rebuilding Continues, Shore is Open for Business

DEP Commissioner: side scan sonar used to detect sunken debris; Tourism Commissioner: rental market is healthy

Though immense devastation from Superstorm Sandy remains visible up and down the New Jersey coastline, beaches, boardwalks and even rental homes are ready for the annual influx of summer tourists that will begin this weekend, officials said Thursday at the annual "State of the Shore" event in Belmar. The State of the Shore report is presented by state officials and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium every year before Memorial Day weekend kicks off, but this year it evolved to mark the unofficial reopening of the Shore area following Sandy. With emergency repairs to state and local infrastructure damaged by the storm now complete, work has started on the state's long term recovery, said Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of …

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Hurricane Sandy

Post-Sandy Tourism and the Shore's Perception Problem

Beach communities are inviting visitors back this summer, but even as they continue to rebuild they face misconceptions about lingering destruction.

It’s an enduring image of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction of the Jersey Shore and its coastal communities. The Jet Star roller coaster, rising out of its saltwater foundation, is a representation of the sheer force of nature, one seen in publications around the world in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Every day the ride has spent in the Atlantic Ocean since is a reality of just how long recovery can actually take. Eventually it will be removed, and likely soon, but what it represents, like every tattered boardwalk, every crushed house, and flooded business, is likely to linger much longer. And it's what the Jersey Shore, and the people trying to maintain its tourism appeal, are fighting against. As New Jersey’s beach towns ready …

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Busy 2013 Hurricane Season Forecast

Legendary forecaster in Wednesday prediction: above-average 2013 Atlantic basin hurricane season due to 'anomalous' ocean warming

As the Jersey Shore continues its recovery from Superstorm Sandy, a Colorado State University professor, who is widely considered a national authority on tropical weather prediction, has released his team's first forecast for the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season — and the news isn't good for coastal residents. This year's hurricane season, which begins June 1, will be above average, the team led by Dr. William Gray predicted in a forecast issued Wednesday. The forecast team calls for 18 named storms during the hurricane season, nine of which are expected to become hurricanes and four of those major hurricanes, meaning they will reach category three status or higher. Storms receive a name when they reach tropical storm status, meaning they …

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A Little Shake to Promote the Shore

With summer nearing, resort towns are hoping to get the word out that they're open for business.

There are myriad avenues being taken to attract tourists back to New Jersey’s beaches this summer season following Hurricane Sandy. The state is currently pursuing ideas of how best to spend $25 million in federal relief aid to promote the shore. Seaside Heights is hoping to develop a marketing plan that plays on the town’s recovery, new boards and new outlook this upcoming season. In Cape May, officials recently traveled to Montreal to assure the foreign press that the shore will be open for business come summertime. In Wildwood they danced.   On Saturday, Wildwood 365, in an effort to showcase the Wildwoods and raise awareness of the ongoing needs of beach communities along the shore both in southern New Jersey and central New Jersey, …

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Roller Girls Recover in Championship Style

How the Jersey Shore Roller Girls fought back from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy to help the region and each other get back on track.

Must the show go on? There’s a saying in the entertainment business that “the show must go on,” but it’s not always true. For the Jersey Shore Roller Girls, the region's all-female flat-track roller derby league, the decision whether or not to cancel its 2012 championship bout after Hurricane Sandy was a tough one. The bout had been scheduled to follow the Asbury Park tree lighting ceremony at Convention Hall on November 24, but the venue wasn’t cleared for use until a week before the event date and there was no time to advertise. Worse still, at least nine of the league’s seventy skaters suffered serious damage to their homes, said JSRG board member Bash N. Onya. “We’ve done this after-Thanksgiving game since 2008 and it’s quickly become …

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Hurricane Sandy

UPDATE: Nearly 247,000 Without Power in Ocean and Monmouth

Outages to increase as Sandy barrels towards the Shore

Update, 6 p.m.: Outages have reached 126,739 in Ocean County and 120,000 in Monmouth County. --- There are nearly 24,000 reported power outages in Monmouth and Ocean counties as of early Monday afternoon, according to a Jersey Central Power & Light map. As of early Monday afternoon, there were 23,559 outages reported in Monmouth and Ocean. However, there was no way to immediately learn if some without power have not reported it yet because they may have no means of communication without electricity. But according to the information available, the highest number of outages in one town in the two counties was Middletown, with 6,869. Another town with a high number of reported outages was Berkeley in southern Ocean County with 1,848. …

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Poll: Majority of Residents Approve of 'Snookiville' Law

Quinnipiac University survey finds 72 percent in favor of bill that would allow towns to regulate television productions

Snooki, we've had enough. That's the view of the majority of state residents polled last week by Quinnipiac University who expressed overwhelming support for the so-called "Snookiville Law," which would allow municipalities to regulate reality TV shows, such as the "Snooki & JWoww" production that began filming in Manchester in August. The poll, released Thursday, shows 72 percent of residents approve of District 12 Republican Assemblyman Ronald Dancer's efforts to reign in such productions as "Jersey Shore," which filmed its last season in Seaside Heights earlier this year. Curiously enough, the poll didn't concern other shows shot in New Jersey, like Comic Book Men in Red Bank, which has yet to offend a mass audience with gratuitous …

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Down the Shore: Wine Fest, Boat Race, Antiques Fair

What to do at the beach Labor Day weekend

Heading down the Shore? Check out this weekend's best bets: Saturday is the final night of the Fair Haven Firemen's Fair, which will be open from 6 to 11 p.m. Don't forget to get your Super 50/50 tickets. The winner will be taking home more than $10,000. The "Jazz It Up Wine & Food Festival" will be held at the historic Allaire Village in Wall Township this weekend. The event will feature more than 300 varieties of wine from more than two dozen wineries. The festival, which runs from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, also will feature live music, vendors and crafters. Tickets for wine sampling are $25 for those 21 years and older. Tickets are available at the festival or through the New Jersey Wine Growers website at www.newjerseywines.…

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