Move over Bill Dance! James Burkhardt of Gloucester City caught this huge Largemouth bass at Martins lake Johnson Blvd and Baynes Avenue. 

This is absolutely one for the scrapbook. WAY TO GO JAMES!! 

Hank received the story below about Karla Comfort from a friend and is asking everyone to pass it on. He and his wife Keiko reside in Kitakyushu City, Japan. Hank is a former resident of Gloucester City

The Millers have two sons, Lucas a PFC with the U.S. Army 25th Division is stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii will be deployed to Iraq on May 31. Their other son, Max is a L/CPL in the U.S. Marines stationed at Camp Schwab, Okinawa. Max has been deployed to Iraq for one tour of duty already and will be deployed to Afghanistan sometime in June.

\”I\’m asking for prayers to bring them both home to us safely. God Bless All our Troops.\”

Hank and Keiko Miller

The Karla Comfort story:
 

 

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. ( March 2, 2006)Karla Comfort received a lot of looks and even some salutes from people when she drove from Benton, Ark., to Camp Pendleton, Calif., in her newly-painted, custom Hummer H3 March 2. The vehicle is adorned with the likeness of her son, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. John M. Holmason, and nine other Marines with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division who where all killed by the same improvised explosive device blast in Fallujah, Iraq, in December.

For Karla Comfort, having the vehicle air brushed with the image of the 10 Marines was a way to pay homage to her hero and his fellow comrades who fell on Iraq\’s urban battlefield

\”I wanted to let people know (Marines) are doing their jobs honorably, and some of them die,\” said the 39-year-old from Portland, OR \”I don\’t want people to forget the sacrifices that my son and the other Marines made.\”

Leading up to her son\’s death, Karla Comfort had received several letters from him prior to his return. He had been deployed for five months, and Comfort \”worried everyday he was gone until she got the letters and found out the date he was coming home,\” she said.

Marines knocked on the front door of her home in Farmington, Mich., at 3 am with the dreadful news.

\”I let my guard down when I found out he was coming home,\” she said. \”There are times that I still cannot believe it happened. It\’s very hard to deal with.\”

Karla Comfort came up with the idea for the rolling memorial when she and her two other sons attended John\’s funeral in Portland, Oregon.

\”I saw a Vietnam (War) memorial on a car, and I said to my son Josh, \’we should do something like that for John,\’ she recalled.\”He loved Hummers.\”

She purchased the vehicle in January and immediately took it to Airbrush Guy & Co. in Benton, Ark., where artist Robert Powell went to work on changing the plain, black vehicle into a decorative, mobile, art piece.

Two hundred and fifty man-hours later, Powell had completed the vehicle. The custom job would have cost $25,000 Out of respect for Karla Comfort\’s loss and the sacrifices the Marines made, Airbrush Guy & Co. did it for free. Comfort only had to purchase the paint, which cost $3,000.

\”I love it,\” she said. \”I\’m really impressed with it, and I think John would be happy with the vehicle. He would have a big smile on his face because he loved Hummers.\”

Karla Comfort gave Powell basic instructions on what to include in the paint job. But in addition to the image of her son in Dress Blues and the faces of the nine other Marines, there were several surprises. \”He put a lot more on than I expected,\” she said \”I think my favorite part is the heaven scene.\”

On the left side of the vehicle, a detail of Marines are depicted carrying their fallen comrades through the clouds to their final resting place. The American flag drapes across the hood, the words, \”Semper Fi\” crowns the front windshield and the spare tire cover carries the same Eagle Globe and Anchor design that her son had tattooed on his back.

\”All the support I have been getting is wonderful,\” she said.

Karla Comfort decided to move back to her hometown of Portland, and making the cross-country trip from Arkansas was a way for her to share her son\’s story. It\’s also her way of coping with the loss.

\”Along the way I got nothing but positive feedback from people,\” she said \”What got to me was when people would salute the guys (Marines). It\’s hard to look at his picture. I still cry and try to get used to the idea, but it\’s hard to grasp the idea that he\’s really gone.\”

Let\’s get this Hummer going around the world, we won\’t forget, pass it on.

By Bill Cleary

Gloucester City residents are facing a .37 cent hike per $100 of assessed valuation in the local purpose tax said Councilman Nick Marchese, Finance Chairman in a recent telephone interview.

Marchese said the City applied for Extraordinary Aid Funding from the State to offset the increase.

\”If we received the aid then the rate will go down. Otherwise a property owner assessed at the average of $70,000 would pay an estimated $259 more in local taxes in the fiscal year of 2007-08.\”

The 2007 budget ($15,540,300) was introduced at the March 22 council meeting and approved by a 4-3 vote. The total amount is $320,867, less than last year\’s figure of $15,86,167.

Those in favor included Marchese, Councilmen Jay Brophy and Bill Hagan along with Mayor William James. Opposed were the incumbent members Council persons Elsie Loebell, Jean Kaye and Rocky Kormann.

The threesome said they hadn\’t had time to review the budget since copies were not released to them until March 21, the day before the meeting. Mayor James said this budget was released in the same time frame last year, but there were no complaints.

Marchese said some of the delay in getting the budget finished was because the finance committee had to deal with the budget and the lack of information without the help of Paul Kain, City Administrator.

Kain has been out of work on sick leave since the beginning of March, and it is not known when he will return.

Marchese, James and Brophy were elected this past November. Since January the newly elected Council members have been finding numerous signs of mismanagement that they inherited from the previous administration.

For example at the March 22 meeting it was pointed out by Marchese and Brophy that the City has kept in place the practice of longevity pay increases and vacation bonuses for supervisors. Brophy said when he asked the County and other Municipalities about the costly practice he was told it was done away with years ago by the majority of the municipalities in the state.

\”Under this system there were supervisors in our City getting longevity and vacation bonuses from 4 to 9 percent,\” he said.

Marchese said the finance committee was also capping buying back accumulative sick leave. \”It should be used when an employee is really sick. Sick leave wasn\’t meant to be used as a bank account for the employee. It is to be used to pay the person when he/she is ill.\”

This is only for non represented employees, Contractual employees negotiate their contracts.

He gave an example of how expensive it would be if the City\’s buyback practice wasn\’t done away. \”If all 110 City employees resigned tomorrow it would cost taxpayers $2 million dollars to buy back the sick leave and vacation time from them.\”

The incumbents argued during the meeting the finance committee\’s proposal was a violation of state law. Marchese said he would look at the law cited by Kaye.

And added, \”If you don\’t vote for this budget tonight, the City taxpayers will lose the chance to apply for Extraordinary Aid.\”

During Friday\’s interview Marchese mentioned the reason why a payment to Jim Maley\’s former law firm of Parker and McCay wasn\’t being paid this month for legal work it billed the city in conjunction with a lawsuit that was recently settled. Maley was the City Solicitor under the previous administration. Marchese said from what he has been able to decipher the company doing the work on the City Marina (Mobile Dredging) was delayed in completing the job on time because of poor engineering design. The company filed a lawsuit and received $260,000 judgment. The attorney fees cost taxpayers $300,000.

\”I have only been able to trace the legal fees for three years,\” Marchese said. \”There are two years missing. The lawyer fees for Mr. Maley\’s work on this lawsuit may even be higher. We are asking Parker McCay to produce those records. Until they do the final payment will be withheld.\”

See Story on Parker McCay

Other factors contributing to a higher tax rate said Marchese include the mismanagement of the City\’s Bond debt which is presently $13 million. Add the $10 million needed for the construction of a new water treatment plant and you have a figure that is too high. \”The City needs this water treatment plant so we must move ahead with it.\”

Another item he pointed out was the lack of oversight on the 30 grants the City has received which total $3 million. For example he referred to a $600,000 Small Cities Grant that was not approved for 2007 due to the fact that we were not utilizing the existing grants we presently have now. Because of the mistakes made the City will lose $900,000 in grants this year.

Appropriations that were brought inside the cap were 8.3 cents. Deferred charges were up $114,000. Increases in landfill charges were up $ 45,000. Trash collection up $ 35,000. Insurance up $ 86,000. Police Salary up $ 190,000. Fire salaries up $113,000. Street and roads salaries up $ 106,000. Police and Fire pension are in the fourth round and are at $ 228,000.

Councilman Brophy mentioned the 28 full-time employees Fire Department has become costly to the taxpayers to operate. He mentioned the line item cost each taxpayer six cents of every $100 of home assessed valuation. In other words a home owner assessed at $100,000 is paying $600 in taxes just for operation of the paid fire department. \”Some firemen are making $21,000 annually in overtime. Something has to be done; it has gotten out of hand.\”

Marchese said the City needs a new street sweeper, trash truck, and additional police cars. More equipment for the water & sewer department is still needed.

Marchese added the main capital improvement is the water treatment plant. \”The future infrastructure will cost the City hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to complete our new housing construction.\”

See more stories on Gloucester City

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/8/07

HEALTHDAY

Guidelines to help high school and college officials prepare for and
deal with sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes are published in the
April issue of the journal Heart Rhythm.

Sudden cardiac arrest, which occurs when the heart suddenly and
unexpectedly stops working, is the leading cause of death in young
athletes.

About 95 percent of people of all ages who suffer sudden cardiac arrest
die before they reach a hospital or receive some other source of emergency
help, according to background information in the article. Overall, sudden
cardiac arrest claims more than 460,000 lives in the United States each
year.Story Continues

By Bill Cleary

For all those political fanatics in Gloucester City looking forward to an exciting June Primary election it appears you will have to look elsewhere for the \”war of words\”. Yesterday (Monday, April 9) was the filing deadline for the Primary. There will be no contest for the council seats as there are only three people running for the three vacated seats that expired at the end of this year. And as for the Committee seats there is only one contest and that is in the Third Ward.

Following the upset of the City Democrat organization last November by the \”Independent or New Democrats\” (Bill James, Jay Brophy, and Nick Marchese) there was speculation that the upcoming June primary would be another hotly contested election. The differences between the two sides have been mended and the newcomers of the City Democrat organization have won out.

Those endorsed by the \”New\” Organization for City Council include: John Hutchinson, (1st Ward), Bruce Parry, (2nd Ward), and Kellie Ferry, (3rd Ward). The three are running unopposed.

Stepping down from office will be Council members Rocky Kormann, Elsie Loebell and Jean Kaye.

Camden County Male Committee people include: Patrick R. Hagan and Robert Saunders (1^st Ward), Francis Wunsch and Raymond Coxe (2^nd Ward).

In the Third Ward there are three candidates running for two seats. They include, Sean Murphy, Daniel Cosner and Ron Pollander. Pollander is running under the banner \”Dedicated Democrat for Change.\”

Camden County Female Committee people: Anna Marie Smith and Carol Stafford (1^st Ward), Bernadette Flinn and Vanessa Courant (2^nd Ward), Helen \”Lynn\” Bucher and Mary DeFoney (3^rd Ward).

No Nominations Made for Republican Candidates

James, Brophy and Marchese issued the following joint statement, \”we would like to add that the new Mayor and Council endorse all of these candidates and are looking forward to working and cooperating with them in the near future for a better Gloucester City.

 

The Mayor and City Council of Gloucester City would like to thank all the people who participated in our annual Clean-up Day March 24. Nearly 400 people picked up truckloads of trash from Market Street, the High School, Martin\’s Lake, Miller\’s Pond, the railroad tracks, parks, playgrounds and the ball fields.

These individuals and groups worked hard and should be commended for their volunteerism and community spirit.

The number of groups and individuals are too numerous to mention, and their dedication to this community is appreciated. Also this year, we would like to thank the additional groups and individuals who responded to the article in this newspaper. Some people from outside of the community called in, signed up and participated alongside our residents.

We would also like to thank the various City departments, committees, and employees who participated in this event. Gloucester City continues to move forward and we say, \”Thank you for a job well done!\” Sincerely,

Mayor William P. James

City of Gloucester

On April 7, 2007. Age 86, died at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC after a brief illness. Mr. Gleason was a native of Gloucester City, NJ and retired from Mobile Oil Company in Paulsboro. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1942 to 1946 and is a WWII veteran. He served on the USS Cleveland in the South Pacific and North Africa.

Mr. Gleason enjoyed all aspects of nature especially fishing, bicycling, walking the Atlantic City Boardwalk and flying with his pilot buddy, Jack Hofbauer. He lived in Westville, NJ until he recently moved to NC to be with his daughter and her family.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Mary Bovill Gleason, his parents and 3 brothers. He is survived by his daughter, Maryann and husband Ron; grandchildren Judy Revels and husband Bart and Kathleen Caviness and husband Sean; great-grandchildren include Kate, Emma, and Addison Revels and Justin, Will, Kieryn, and Cameron Caviness all of Greensboro, NC. A Mass of Christian Resurrection will be held at 10am Friday at St. Anne\’s Catholic Church: U.S. Route 130 South and Highland Avenue, Westville. Burial with U.S. Marine Corp Honors will follow at New St. Mary\’s Cemetery, Bellmawr, NJ. The family will visit with friends from 7-9 pm Thursday at the McCann-Healey Funeral Home, 851 Monmouth St., (at Brown Street) Gloucester City. There will be no morning viewing, please meet directly at the church.

Family Requests that memorial donations in Sterling\’s memory be made to St. Anne\’s Catholic Church: 213 Woodbine Avenue, Westville, NJ 08093. Expressions of sympathy may be e-mailed to the family through our funeral home website www.mccannhealey.com under online obituaries of Sterling B. Gleason.

by: Hopeful

Mon Apr 09, 2007

reprinted with permission of Blue Jersey

1:05 AM EDT

The calendar may say April, but it feels like winter. Here\’s a picture I took yesterday to remind you that the trees are in blossom:

 

The Inquirer asks why wealthy and powerful men like State Senator Wayne Bryant feel the need to break the law.   The New York Times has a very interesting profile of Washington Township and how its Smart Growth plan worked too well.   Herb Jackson and John McAlpin explain the state\’s pension problems (again.)   Don Imus continues to apologize for his comments about the Rutgers women\’s basketball team. Rev. Sharpton, Rev. Jackson, and the NAACP all called for his resignation:   James E. Harris, president of the New Jersey chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, demanded Sunday that Imus \”resign or be terminated immediately.\”   Wayne DeAngelo will run for Assembly in LD14. Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein is running for reelection, and Seema Singh is running for State Senate.   Republicans in LD12 want it chosen for the Clean Elections Program.   A dailyrecord.com headline says \”Property-tax refunds mean more paperwork,\” but the article says \”the process for receiving the rebates will be the same as in past years.\” In future years there may be a direct credit. On the other hand, David Rebovich at politicsnj.com says we still don\’t have meaningful reform.   Okay, it\’s not politics, but I listened to the Devils-Islanders game on the radio yesterday, and will never forget it. The game was meaningless for the Devils and essential for the Islanders to make the playoffs:   Protecting a 2-1 lead late in regulation time, the Islanders saw it slip away when the Devils pulled goalie Scott Clemmensen for an extra skater and John Madden tied the game with nine-tenths of a second remaining. Fortunately the Islanders won the overtime shootout, so both teams make the playoffs.

Little League World Series

The Coolest Little League Coach!