Category: SOUTH JERSEY

Deadly New York Harbor Pilot Accident; Coast Guard Responds

SANDY HOOK, New Jersey – The Coast Guard responded with units from the New York Fire Department and New York Police Department Harbor Police to an incident where a Sandy Hook Harbor pilot fell while boarding the merchant vessel Maersk Kensington at 4:30 this morning.

The pilot, who was transported to a hospital on Staten Island by a Sandy Hook pilot vessel, eventually succumbed to injuries received in the fall. The name of the deceased is being withheld until 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified.

The Coast Guard has begun an ongoing investigation into the circumstance surrounding the fall.

William J. McDevitt, of Laurel Springs; Korean War Air Force Veteran

A long-time resident of Laurel Springs, NJ and previously of Collingswood, at the age of 87, passed away at home on December 27, 2019 surrounded by his loving family. Loving and

devoted husband of 62 years to Evelyn H. McDevitt (nee Dillin). Son of the late Blanche and William McDevitt of Philadelphia, PA. Loving father of William (Joann), John (Jacqueline), Robert (Susan), Joseph (Michele) and Barbara McDevitt. Cherished grandfather of Matthew (Samantha), Michael Sr., Ryan, Shawn (Krista), Jessica, Robby, Daniel, Joseph and Brandon. Cherished great-grandfather of Summer, Michael Jr. and Liam. Predeceased by his two sisters, Barbara Dudash and Patricia Cotter.

William proudly served our country as a radio operator in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He worked as an electrical supervisor for Boeing in Ridley Park, PA and as a copier technician at several companies.

At his request, funeral services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Samaritan Hospice, 5 Eves Drive, Suite 300, Marlton, NJ 08053. Please memo, William J. McDevitt

Condolences and Memories may be shared at

www.mccannhealey.com

under the obituary of William J. McDevitt. Funeral Arrangements and Inquiries through: McCANN–HEALEY FUNERAL HOME, Gloucester City Ph:856-456-1142

One Jersey Cash 5 Ticket Wins $270,758 Jackpot in Burlington County

TRENTON (Dec. 30, 2019) – One lucky ticket matched all five numbers drawn winning the $270,758 Jersey Cash 5 jackpot from the Friday, Dec. 27, drawing. The winning numbers were: 02, 07, 29, 32 and 42 and the XTRA number was: 04. The retailer will receive a bonus check for $2,000 for the winning ticket sold. That ticket was sold at Shoprite of Medford, 208 Route 70 E., Medford in Burlington County.

Acting Executive Director James Carey announced that there were 370,319 tickets purchased for the drawing. By adding XTRA, for an additional $1.00 per play, winners are able to multiply their non-jackpot prizes by the XTRA number drawn. For correctly matching four of the five numbers drawn, 62 ticketholders won $522 each and eight others won $2,088 each with the addition of XTRA. Moreover, for correctly matching three of the five numbers drawn, 1,993 ticketholders won $17 each and 361 others won $68 each with the addition of XTRA. Lastly 4,903 ticketholders each won $2 for correctly matching two of the five numbers drawn with the addition of XTRA on their purchase.

Do You Need a High School Diploma?

Gloucestercitynews.net (December 30, 2019)–In the United States,

90% of the population

has a high school diploma or higher.

Do you need a high school diploma? To answer that question, let’s break down what exactly a high school diploma does for you. How it can help you and whether or not a high school diploma is truly necessary.

Starting off, we can look at tangibles that can be measured by statistics. Then, we will explore the social impacts of not having a degree.

Work Options

If you don’t have a high school diploma, you’ll have fewer options for work. Many employers require that employees have at least passed high school before they are eligible to be hired.

You can

get a GED

to make up for a lack of a high school diploma. This will open a lot of doors, but without either, you’re going to have trouble finding a job.

Construction jobs and jobs with specific apprenticeships are among the few choices. In general, you will have to elect for a more physical job.

Earning Potential

As a general rule, the higher an education you have the more you make. Those who have at least a high school diploma earn more than those who don’t.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the

average weekly earnings

of someone

without

a high school diploma is $493. If you have a diploma, then your weekly earning potential is bumped up to $678.

The more education you receive, the more you are likely to make. The less you receive, the less money you will be paid. Time and experience can turn those tables a bit in your favor.

Social Status

Many people who do not receive a high school diploma feel awkward about it. Over time it can even become something that you will feel embarrassed about.

Most of this reaction comes from how people treat those who do not have high school diplomas. They can be viewed as less intelligent or lazy even if that is not true.

In some cases, it can even affect your ability to get a spouse or significant other. Working low-level jobs that require a lot of physical exertion will keep you from meeting a lot of people.

If you work hard enough and promote high enough at your job, you can escape this stigma. It will require that you put in years gaining experience and the trust of your employer. Hard work can pay off.

Making It Harder on Yourself

Without a high school diploma, you are

making life harder on yourself

. Very few people have viable options to begin their adult lives without having a high school diploma.

You’ll have to work twice as hard as someone with a high school diploma to obtain the same things in life. Education doesn’t mean intelligence, but it does make things easier.

Having the diploma is like having proof that you are a smart, creative and interesting person. If you don’t have one, you will have to prove all of those things to everyone you work for.

Other Options to High School

The question “Do you need a high school diploma?” can be answered another way. It is possible to get a GED which will function exactly the same as a high school diploma.

The difficulty in receiving your GED is that you won’t have anyone keeping you on task. You will have to motivate yourself and work at your own pace to succeed.

Studying is also something that makes the GED more difficult. If you don’t like studying or think you will have difficulty being motivated to study, you might have difficulty getting your GED.

If you are studying for your GED and want to have a diploma, you might consider a realistic diploma. You should

find out more

about realistic diplomas if you feel that might be a good temporary solution.

Do You Need a High School Diploma?

The short answer is not necessarily. There are options such as the GED and manual labor careers that don’t require a high school diploma.

The main thing that having your diploma will do is give you options. If you don’t want to work in a career field that requires heavy manual labor or equipment operation, you will need a high school diploma.

Not everyone will judge you for not having a high school diploma. You can simply not mention it to your friends and colleagues. Eventually, someone might find out, but perhaps by then, it won’t matter.

If you don’t have a diploma, you will make less throughout your life. While you can earn your way up, you will start at a lower pay scale. This will make it more difficult for you to retire at a reasonable age.

Millions of people graduate every year with high school diplomas. Diplomas have lost some value because so many people have them. The problem is this creates a large majority pool.

The size of this population pool means that employers don’t have to lower standards. They don’t have to give a chance to someone that doesn’t have a diploma. They have plenty of people to choose from as-is.

Without a high school diploma, you could potentially still have a good life. Most of what applies to

not

having a high school diploma also applies to having a high school diploma when compared to higher degrees.

In the end, degrees aren’t the end-all of life, but they help tremendously.

You Need a Diploma

Life is difficult as everyone already knows. Challenges and difficulties will continue to confront you throughout your life. As we choose our paths in life, things can be more or less challenging.

Do you need a high school diploma? Yes. If you want to make things easier for yourself and make it further in life, you will. Having a high school diploma, or even a higher diploma, can open doors that otherwise will have to be forced open by long, hard work.

We hope you found this article helpful. If so, please take a moment to browse our site and find other great reads to inform and entertain you.

CHOP RESEARCHING HAND/ARM DISORDERS & TREATMENTS

PHILADELPHIA PA–Orthopedic clinicians at Children\’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) are actively researching a range of hand and arm disorders and treatments. Orthopedic doctors regularly collaborate with The Center for Applied Genomics at CHOP, one of the world\’s largest genetics research programs and the only center at a pediatric hospital to have large-scale access to state-of-the-art throughput genotyping technology.

Current hand and arm research includes:

Long-term follow-up of gunshot wounds to the hand or upper extremity in children

Pink pulseless hand (prospective study)

Diagnostic utility of MRI scans in pediatric wrist injury

Outcomes of reconstruction of congenital hand anomalies such as syndactyly

Unstable supracondylar humerus fractures: experience with the “suprone” technique

Validation and integrated use of a simulated pediatric distal radius fracture reduction model

Functional outcomes of displaced distal radius fractures in children

Shoulder instability in adolescents

With research, orthopedic leaders at CHOP hope to be able to improve surgical techniques, range of motion and quality of life for children with hand and arm disorders.

For an appointment/referrals with the Hands and Arms Disorder department call

215-590-1527

DOWN THE SHORE: Ocean City Fiberglass Offers Top Customer Service

Employees Edgar Rivero and Karen Wilchens look at a rendering of a job at OC Fiberglass.

By MADDY VITALE

There are no short cuts. There are no patch jobs. Just fine craftsmanship by the OC Fiberglass team.

They put customers first to deliver quality work when designing decks, railings, siding and renovations to homes throughout the region, said Edgar Rivero, who handles the company’s marketing.

OC Fiberglass, located at 1125 Asbury Ave. in Ocean City, became a business in 2014. It started with a crew of three brothers and a friend.

Since then, and with the opening of the storefront in 2017 it is growing and has 18 people employed, including six carpenters.

Rivero, 23, of Ocean City, is the nephew of three of the owners and said he has some ideas why they are becoming successful.

“We have a reputation of turning down some requests because we want to do things right,” Rivero said. “We don’t want to Band-Aid a problem. Customers know that we want to fix it right the first time.”

He added, “I think that is why we have loyal customers. That has really driven our recommendations. They know we want to do the work the best way possible.”

From left, top to bottom: Carlos Rivero, Christian Hernandez, Eduardo Rivero, Javier Santiago. (Photo courtesy OC Fiberglass)

Honesty and integrity are what it is all about, Rivero said.

Carlos Rivero and his friend, Javier Santiago, started OC Fiberglass in 2014. They gradually built up their business and then Rivero’s brothers, Christian Hernandez and Eduardo Rivero joined the growing team.

Carlos handles sales, estimates and meets with clients and builders, while Javier, Eduardo and Christian do the work.

Customer reviews tell the story of what it is like when hiring the team to do a project.

Mary Ann Noss wrote a review with a five-star rating on the Facebook page for OC Fiberglass.

“Carlos and his crew just completed four decks and installed a French door for us and did an excellent job! Carlos was very understanding, extremely knowledgeable, and trustworthy. Their workmanship is meticulous, and the clean-up was fantastic. We highly recommend Ocean City Fiberglass!”

Bruce Hamlin reviewed Ocean City Fiberglass and also gave it five stars.

He put it simply: “Excellent work coupled with trained employees who clean up after themselves.”

This is a siding job completed by OC Fiberglass in Avalon. (Photo courtesy OC Fiberglass)

Over the years, as their workmanship has become more and more known, Carlos and his team decided to expand. Now, with a full complement of workers, OC Fiberglass can handle even bigger jobs and have branched out into renovations.

Edgar said they specialize in fiberglass decks, but definitely take pride in and do an excellent job on many projects.

“Deck work is huge here. All of the islands need fiberglass decks.” he said. “We can’t use regular decking. Fiberglass is an insulator and helps keep the space below dry.”

When it comes to family businesses, many succeed, some fail.

Edgar said this team knows success comes from working hard for the customer.

“We are really honest with ourselves. We keep ourselves accountable and make sure pride doesn’t get in the way of getting things done,” he said. “We are close enough to tell ourselves the hard truths and get it done in the end.”

And if the idea of learning the trade sounds appealing, Edgar said the team is always looking for new talent.

“We are always looking for talent,” he noted. “We need people to work. There’s an opportunity to learn the fiberglass trade.”

For more information or to schedule an appointment visit

www.ocfiberglass.com

or call (609) 938-6205.

OC Fiberglass is located at 1125 Asbury Ave. in Ocean City

DOWN THE SHORE: United Methodist Communities (UMC) Recipient of Four 2019 MarCom Awards

UMC The Shores in Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, NJ–United Methodist Communities (UMC) is the recipient of four 2019 MarCom Awards, an international creative competition recognizing outstanding marketing and communications professionals.

The MarCom Awards administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and

Communication Professionals, consists of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, digital, and web professionals. This year, they judged over 6,500 entries representing the United States, Canada, and 18 other countries.

The fall 2018 issue of

engage

, UMC’s newsletter, took Platinum. With the theme, Then and Now, it contrasted the organization’s founding year, 1907 with 2017. Platinum winners are the most outstanding for their excellence in quality, creativity, and resourcefulness. They demonstrate excellence in terms of quality, creativity, and resourcefulness. About 17 percent won Platinum.

Entries judged to exceed the high standards of the industry norm received Gold awards. Approximately 24 percent fell into this category. The United Methodist Communities at Collingswood Facebook site garnered Gold.

MarCom conferred two Honorable Mention awards: A video from the Connections series (UMC’s YouTube channel), Lori and Irma, portrays the endearing relationship between a frontline professional and a resident. The UMC Foundation’s summer 2018 newsletter,

United in Philanthropy

, received the second Honorable Mention.

The awards represent collaboration with creative partners Merz Branding (West Chester, PA), Image Revolver (Philadelphia, PA), and Masterpiece Marketing (Lancaster, PA).

Robbie Voloshin, corporate director of marketing, reflected, “Our Marketing Department and partners continue to produce outstanding work showcasing United Methodist Communities as an expert senior living resource in New Jersey. These four awards further encourage us in our overall goal to benefit older adults.”

Corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, public relations firms, design shops, production companies, and freelancers, submitted entries. With varied talent, they have participated in the concept, writing, and design of print, visual, audio and web materials and programs entered. Judges are industry professionals who recognize talent that exceeds a high standard of excellence and serves as an industry benchmark. Winners range from individual communicators to media conglomerates and Fortune 500 companies.

# # #

About United Methodist Communities

United Methodist Communities is a not-for-profit organization guided by a volunteer board of directors affiliated in ministry with the United Methodist Church of Greater New Jersey. The mission of the United Methodist Communities is compassionately serving in community so that all are free to choose abundant life.

With over 112 years of continuous operation, the organization has grown to 13 locations offering independent, residential and assisted living; Tapestries® Memory Care; respite; rehabilitation; long-term care; Bridges Hospice and Palliative Care; affordable senior housing; and case management, live-in and in-home personal care through HomeWorks.

Recording Artist CC Miles Named Youth Ambassador for Food Bank of South Jersey

PENNSAUKEN, NEW JERSEY – With a focus on increasing awareness of the impact of food insecurity and the importance of healthy eating in the youth community of South Jersey, the Food Bank of South Jersey announces recording artist CC Miles, 18, will serve as Youth Ambassador 2020.

Recording artist CC Miles

As Youth Ambassador 2020 for the Food Bank, Miles will bring the message of food insecurity and hunger awareness to regional schools, communities and organizations, as well as work directly with the Food Bank of South Jersey’s Health & Wellness and Community Engagement & Impact teams to distribute information and resources to support healthy eating, nutrition awareness and an understanding of the many faces of food insecurity in South Jersey communities today.

“I am honored to support the Food Bank of South Jersey’s mission to spread food insecurity awareness and health and wellness strategies and eating habits to young people throughout South Jersey,” CC Miles shares. “Nutrition is a very important topic for me, personally, and I can see no better way to share my enthusiasm for healthy eating and proper nutrition while, at the same time, assist young people in South Jersey in understanding the disaster of everyday hunger that impacts so many children, families and entire communities.”

Currently, in Camden County alone, there are 17,200 food-insecure children, 24% of whom are currently ineligible for federal nutrition programs, and 76% of whom are currently income-eligible for nutrition programs – at least, as of today.

Overall in Camden County alone, the total food-insecure population is over 60,000. Food insecure populations in Burlington, Gloucester and Salem counties are equally sobering. Burlington County currently has 41,680 food-insecure residents, of which 10,960 are food-insecure children. Gloucester County holds 8,180 food-insecure children in a total food-insecure population of 26,860 individuals. Suffering the impact of rural hunger, the less populated farmlands of Salem County shows 8,080 food-insecure individuals, of which 2,550 are children – all of which may live more than 10 miles from the nearest grocery store.

“We are delighted to appoint CC Miles our Youth Ambassador for 2020,” reports Fred Wasiak, CEO, Food Bank of South Jersey. “The message of food insecurity and its impact on children throughout our region is a vital point of understanding for today’s youths – awareness can, and will, create power and change in the effort to end hunger in South Jersey.”

ABOUT CC MILES

Recording artist and songwriter CC Miles has released three albums in less than five years, with her most recent album,

Almost

, released in August 2018. Popular on iTunes, Apple Music and Spotify, CC engages her growing

Instagram

and

YouTube

followers with new releases and original music between touring the country performing live in Nashville, New York, throughout the United States and internationally, including performances in Italy. Whether on stage, on tape, or on-screen, 18-year-old recording artist CC Miles invites everyone into her world. By way of candid lyrics, genuine charm, and undeniable charisma, the singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist imparts a storytelling sensibility on impassioned and irresistible pop. Driven by her voice as a writer and augmented by personal instrumental prowess, she shines through each side of every song. At first listen, you might just feel like you know her. CC Miles was born and raised in Medford Lakes, New Jersey. For more information, visit

www.ccmiles.com

.

ABOUT FOOD BANK OF SOUTH JERSEY

Marking its 35th year in 2020, the Food Bank of South Jersey (FBSJ) is the leader in providing safe and nutritional food to people in need throughout South Jersey. FBSJ distributes food, provides nutrition education and cooking courses, and helps food-insecure families and seniors find sustainable ways to improve their lives. Throughout 2019, FBSJ distributed 14 million pounds of food, including 75,000 after school snacks, over 200,000 summer meals and more than 15,000 senior food boxes, as well as serving 95 health and wellness programs to more than 6,000 residents. Providing community impact through local support, FBSJ ensures that local donations stay local. FBSJ is a member of Feeding America, our nation’s largest hunger-relief organization. To learn more, visit

www.foodbanksj.org

.

USDA Approves Plans for Domestic Production of Hemp by Louisiana, NJ, and Ohio and Three Indian Tribes

(December 28, 2019)–The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved the first set of plans submitted by states and Indian tribes for the domestic production of hemp under the U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program. The plans were submitted by the states of Louisiana, New Jersey, and Ohio, and the Flandreau Santee Sioux, Santa Rosa Cahuilla, and La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indian Tribes.

image courtesy of

https://www.agriculture.com/

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) directed USDA to develop a regulatory oversight program for hemp and include provisions for USDA to approve hemp production plans submitted by states and Indian tribes. Accordingly, on October 31, 2019, USDA issued an

interim final rule

establishing the U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program and the provisions for USDA to approve submitted plans. State and tribal plans provide details on practices and procedures that enable hemp producers in their jurisdictions to operate according to their individual plans and in compliance with federal laws.

To produce hemp, growers must be licensed or authorized under a state, tribe, or USDA production program. The program a grower is licensed under depends on the location of the hemp growing facility. If a state or tribe has an approved plan or is in the process of developing a plan, growers must apply and be licensed or authorized under its hemp program. If a state or tribe does not have a plan and does not intend to have a plan, growers can apply for a license from USDA.

USDA continues to receive and review plans from states and Indian tribes and maintains a list of all on our website, along with approved plans. To check the status of a plan or to review approved plans, visit:

Status of State and Tribal Hemp Production Plans

.

For additional information about the program and the provisions of the interim final rule, visit the

U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program

web page.

For information or questions related to a specific plan, please contact the applicable state or tribe.

Mike and Peaches Luken, Just One of the Many Reasons Ocean City is America\’s Greatest Family Resort

After 30 years, Mike and Peaches Lukens are wrapping up what is expected to be their last Community Christmas Dinner.

By TIM KELLY/

Somers Point News

OCEAN CITY, NJ–Ocean City Councilman Keith Hartzell, a longtime volunteer and benefactor to Wednesday’s Community Christmas Dinner in Ocean City, took a moment to consider the event organizers, Mike and Peaches Lukens.

The couple conceived the event in 1989, organized it and executed it every year since.

“They are the heart and soul of what it means to call Ocean City ‘America’s Greatest Family Resort,’” Hartzell said. “We’re a beach resort in the summer. In the other nine months, we’re a Norman Rockwell painting. We’re Mayberry. We’re small town America coming together as a community. Nothing says it better than this event.”

Peaches and Mike, who started the event by serving approximately 150 people at the old Ocean City Youth Center, have seen their idea grow into one of the town’s most beloved events. For more than 20 years now, it has taken place at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church.

“We will serve more than 800 meals today,” Mike Lukens said of the event, which ran from noon to 3 p.m. Christmas Day. “We were prepared to serve 1,200. We served more than 500 dinners in the first hour alone.”

He and his wife announced earlier in the year that this would be their last at the helm of the event. The couple relocated to Cape May, and found it more difficult to accomplish the many details of the dinner from a long distance.

Mike did leave some wiggle room, though. “Maybe someone will rope us into it one more year,” he said with a laugh, and added, “We will be involved in some way. It just won’t be the same.”

No, it won’t. Mike and Peaches and Jennifer Bowman, who handles much of the marketing side of the dinner, were in search of sponsorship to take over the financial cost of the dinner, possibly in exchange for the sponsor’s name on the event.

Enjoying the community dinner are (clockwise from bottom left) Connie Henry, Bill Henry, Jim Kelly, Donna Kelly, Rob Kelly, Shannon Kelly, Mason Henry and Jordan Henry.

They were also considering crowdfunding as an option to help keep the tradition intact.

Last week, after reading of the event’s situation in an OCNJDaily.com article, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian personally donated a new commercial grade refrigerator to the church after learning the old one needed to be replaced right away.

Individual and group donations poured in after the story, raising most of the funds needed to pay for this year’s dinner and its staging.

Bowman was quick to point out that while the dinner has fed thousands of people in need over the years, it is not designed for that purpose alone.

“Mike and Peaches wanted a nice, free, fun event for people who had nowhere else to go. Or people who have family elsewhere and can’t get away.”

Peaches Lukens serves beverages at the holiday dinner at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church.

Hartzell, who has donated beverages for the dinner for years, said he was a good example. A traveling sales executive, he said Christmas “is one day where I can relax and my phone won’t ring. I live in the neighborhood and I can walk here. I’m able to volunteer and help.”

“But I’m also able to enjoy it, have a great meal and take some food home,” Hartzell continued.

Throughout the dining area, individuals, couples, families and larger groups were seen interacting and enjoying each other’s company and a great holiday meal.

“This is a fantastic thing for the community,” said “Lenny B,” a DJ and karaoke singer who kept the Christmas music flowing. “I’m here every year, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

In addition to food and music, candy, toys and toiletries were handed out to those in need. People needing rides were transported to and from the event, and shut-ins were the recipients of donated and delivered meals.

Hartzell summed up the Christmas and community spirit that permeates the dinner year in and year out.

“Ocean City was founded by God-fearing people,” he said. “Today’s event shows once again that we are still a God-fearing community.”

DJ and karaoke master “Lenny B” provides the entertainment.