Belmar beach photos Sunday aug 31 2008

Yankees tickets call 1-800-688-4000 why wait in line

 

U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team Atlantic City 2008

 

U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team

Atlantic City 2008 air show photos

 

doing a high-speed pass which resulted in a couple of brief bursts of water vapor, lasting small fractions of a second, as the plane flew through very localized areas of especially high humidity. The partial vacuum left behind as the plane zooms past is enough to cause the water vapor to condense into droplets, even if it is just for a moment

F15 fighter plane upside down at the Atlantic City 2008 air show

 

Area officials weigh in on diploma mill matter

Area officials weigh in on diploma mill matter
Monmouth County school administrators' doctorates at issue
BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer


While the N.J. Department of Education (NJDOE) says it can do nothing to stop educators from obtaining degrees from "diploma mills" on the taxpayers' dime, officials from Middlesex County school districts say it is a practice they do not tolerate.


The NJDOE released a report on the matter last week, after a controversy arose surrounding the superintendent and two other administrators in the Freehold Regional High School District, who had received doctoral degrees from an online university that many argue was not properly accredited.

Superintendent of Schools James Wasser, Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista and retired Assistant Schools Superintendent Frank Tanzini were brought into the spotlight by recent news reports for having obtained their doctorate degrees from Breyer State University, which states on its Web site that it is "not accredited by an accreditation agency approved by the U.S. Department of Education."

Instead, the school is accredited by the Association for Innovation in Distance Education, a private organization that has only Breyer, which was formerly based in Alabama, and Canyon College in Carmichael, Calif., listed as accredited schools. Greater Media Newspapers was unable to reach the Web site for the Association for Innovation in Distance Education, except through the Breyer State University Web site.

All three administrators were given a $2,500 pay increase for receiving their doctorate, and the district paid $8,700 in tuition costs to the university.

District Board of Education attorney Lawrence Schwartz denied that Breyer is a diploma mill, and said the matter of the degrees in question was "not a significant legal issue" at the board's July 28 meeting in Englishtown.

Both Schwartz and Wasser pointed out that Breyer was fully licensed in Alabama at the time Wasser obtained his degree. In a July 14 press release from the Alabama Community College System Department of Postsecondary Education, Breyer State was declared an "apparent diploma mill," and its operating license was not renewed.

Violations cited on the part of the school included conferring honorary doctorates on individuals based on life and work experience, a one-time application fee, and a monetary contribution to the institution, according to the press release.

Breyer State also offered a self-designed degree program, which allows the creation of a curriculum based on mentoring.

The school's Web site now lists a Los Angeles address. It also states, "Breyer State University is not a state-specific university and not a state university."

Wasser's contract, which ends in 2011, does not specify that a degree must come from a federally accredited school, according to Schwartz. In addition, there is no law in New Jersey requiring a degree from any particularly accredited school for K-12 employees, he said.

There are, however, state regulations regarding phony degrees, and those from institutions that are not properly accredited. According to the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, it is unlawful to issue or obtain a degree with deceptive intent, or to use or attempt to use such a degree for employment purposes. In addition, it is unlawful to use letter designation of degrees after one's name if a degree was not obtained through an appropriate accrediting agency, the law states.

Violators of the statutes are subject to a $1,000 fine for each offense.

After receiving citizen complaints, both the Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance of the New Jersey Department of Education and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office are conducting investigations into the matter.

Wasser claimed ignorance on the issue of accreditation, and said his only intention in obtaining the doctorate was to improve his job performance and make a positive impact on the lives of young people.

While some school officials praised Wasser's work in the district and otherwise spoke in support of him at the meeting, some members of the public took issue with the degrees. A concern raised by more than one resident involved in the cost paid by taxpayers.

"We're not talking about $45,000 or $50,000," Schwartz said.

Regardless of the dollar amount, some of those in attendance made it clear that they did not want to foot the bill for schooling that did not meet with standards set by the state. The issue of how the tuition reimbursement was handled was also brought to light.

Though the board was advised by Schwartz not to speak on the issue, board member Katie Goon of Marlboro said the board must ensure that the district does not repeat the practice of paying tuition directly to a school, as was the case with Breyer. Typically, employees are required to pay the tuition initially, and then have it reimbursed by their employer upon providing proof of successful completion of coursework.

Despite public outcry, none of the administrators have been required to pay back money gleaned from their raises or tuition.

Both Schwartz and Wasser pointed out that doctoral degrees are not required of school superintendents.

Officials say they are vigilant

Monroe Township School Board PresidentAmyAntelis said while there may be no higher state authority enforcing proper accreditation for school employees, the district itself has its own regulations, and keeps a close eye on such matters.

"Luckily, we're very good here in Monroe," Antelis said. "We're very diligent."

According to Antelis, the district has a list of colleges and universities accredited by the NJDOE that applies to both teachers and administrators. During the most recent teachers' contract negotiations, the issue of tuition reimbursement came up, and district officials established that in order for reimbursement to occur, a school must be "accredited by an accrediting agency that has been approved by the United States Department of Education," Antelis said.

"We always double check," Antelis said. "We're very thorough here."

The school district is conducting a superintendent search through the New Jersey School Boards Association, because former Superintendent Ralph Ferrie, who held a doctoral degree, resigned June 30. Antelis said the district always uses professionals to conduct such searches, and they always look into applicants' educational backgrounds.

Spotswood Board of Education President Richard O' Brien expressed similar sentiments.

"I know it not to be an issue in our district," O'Brien said.

District Superintendent of Schools John Krewer attended Northern Illinois University and holds a doctorate, O'Brien said. Employed by the district for three years, Krewer has a positive record, he noted.

"He's a great superintendent," O'Brien said.

In terms of school principals, three out of four of the district's school heads have been employed by the school system for about 25 years, he said. In light of the recent controversy, O'Brien said the board will heighten measures to ensure the validity of educators' degrees.

"We'll certainly make it a part of the process to check their educational résumé," O'Brien said.

Old Bridge Superintendent of Schools Simon Bosco, who earned his doctorate at Rutgers University, said his district takes stringent measures to check into educational backgrounds.

"We've been way ahead of this situation for a long time," Bosco said.

In the case of both potential employees and tuition reimbursement for district employees, Bosco said a two-pronged approach is used. First, officials look to the NJDOE to ensure that a school is properly accredited, then they go to the school in question to check the validity of the accrediting agency.

According to Bosco, there have been instances when educational credits were not granted to those who did not attend properly accredited schools. About 15 years ago, the district took money away from employees who, while not attempting to commit fraud, attended schools that were not NJDOE approved.

Bosco declined to offer his own view of the situation in the Freehold Regional High School District, which is the largest high school district in New Jersey, but pointed out that many reputable colleges and universities offer legitimate degree programs that can be completed online.

"Earning an advanced degree is, or should be, a rigorous process, and I think that education is changing because of technology, and I think it is important for school districts — not just for school districts, but for everyone — to understand just what is acceptable," Bosco said.

According to Bosco, Old Bridge school officials were vigilant about ensuring the validity of educational credentials even before diploma mills became an online phenomenon. Before that time, such organizations offered several-hour courses resulting in degrees and certifications.

"Here in Old Bridge, it's been tightly monitored for many years," Bosco said.

Municipal employees

The issue of diploma mills or other unaccredited schools is not exclusive to school districts. In 2005, a retired South River police lieutenant filed a lawsuit alleging that borough officials promoted two officers who obtained what he said were bogus degrees. The officer eventually settled with the borough, receiving retroactive pay.

The lawsuit stated that in 2003 the borough promoted two officers who had obtained degrees from Rochville University, a fraudulent Internet diploma mill. The borough considered those degrees to be legitimate and awarded the men points for the degrees during the promotional process. Like Breyer State University, Rochville was not accredited by state or federal governing bodies.

Old Bridge Mayor Jim Phillips said he has never encountered such an instance in the township, but the review process for the educational background of township employees is thorough.

"In the times that we've hired people who are required to have professional degrees, we've looked into it to ensure that they have the professional degrees," Phillips said.

He cited township officials who are required to have certifications from the state, such as Chief Financial Officer Himanshu Shah, Township Engineer Jim Cleary and Township Planner Sam Rizzo, saying all of their credentials were verified prior to becoming municipal employees. He also said the police department looks into employees' college credits before awarding points.

phony Dr. Wasser should resign

Freehold Regional High School District school board member said she would seek the resignation or removal of the superintendent and an assistant superintendent if they don't pay back the district for tuition reimbursement and raises given for doctoral degrees obtained from an "online, unaccredited diploma mill."

Katie Goon, the Marlboro representative to Freehold Regional, also demanded that Superintendent H. James Wasser and Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista stop using the title "doctor." Goon made these remarks in a statement to the Asbury Park Press on Wednesday.

Goon insisted that Wasser and Evangelista pursue doctoral degrees from a recognized institution on their own time, without the aid of the district.

Wasser, Evangelista and retired Assistant Superintendent Frank J. Tanzini received $2,500 raises based on doctoral degrees obtained from Breyer State University, and the district paid $8,700 in tuition to Breyer State.

Breyer State was kicked out of Alabama by officials there in June. The diploma-mill issue has spawned state investigations and statewide controversy.

Goon, the first board member to openly criticize Wasser, wrote that the administrators' actions have caused Freehold Regional to "become the subject of ridicule."



past run ins with the phoney doc ...

http://forums.app.com/viewtopic.php?p=92936&sid=42eef9ac384d374a1dcfcda4a3424e7a
NO COACH, to my knowledge (29 years in the district as a teacher and coach) in the history of the FRHSD, has EVER been asked to resign over missing paperwork when all of the athletes were, in fact, eligible. In fact, there have been several instances in the FRHSD of athletes who were athletically (or otherwise) ineligible, as determined by the NJSIAA, where NO ACTION was taken against the coach, school nurse, or athletic director. So, if, in fact, the District is claiming that their action is based on faulty paperwork, their representative is not being entirely truthful (lying)--not an unusual occurrence for FRHSD central administrators, as numerous previous APP articles can attest to.

The central office staff often grinds their ax against employees--particularly coaches--when they have done something to anger the central office (often something incredibly minor). For an example, see the firestorm surrounding remarkably successful girls' soccer coach, Heshey Moses, from Freehold Boro. Mr. Moses was one of the most successful soccer coaches in the history of the Shore Conference; however, he was forced to step down by the superintendent and his minions. Mr. Moses has been somewhat outspoken (rightfully so) over the years, and, on the first occasion when the vindictive central office staff could retaliate, they did so, over, of course, something meaningless.

For Lisa Rizzo to be forced to resign over--for lack of a better word--an insignificant trifle, is patently absurd. Please, FRHSD BOE and central office, either tell the truth or reinstate the coach. Her previous success, the respect of the parents and community, and, particularly, the respect of the cheerleader-athletes, are without question. So what if her paperwork was late or not "exactly" in order.

The other occasions in which coaches were not sanctioned by the FRHSD central administration are matters of public record and can be obtained by contacting the NJSIAA directly at 609-259-2776. They will release previous instances of NJSIAA action with regard to the regional district and violations of NJSIAA regulations, without action against the coach, athletic director, or building administration. And, there have been a number of them, without removign ANYONE!

In brief, Mr. Wasser and his staff should be ashamed of themselves if this is the reason that they are claiming for her dismissal. If she did something more substantial, then, perhaps, they are justified. If this is the sole reason for her being asked to resign, then, as indicated in the title of this post, this is patently absurd.

Air show thunders over packed Atlantic City Boardwalk, beach

Air show thunders over packed Atlantic City Boardwalk, beach
By STEVEN LEMONGELLO


Spectators watch the skies as US Air National Guard F-16's from the 177th Fighter Wing are displayed on a large display at The Pier during the Atlantic City Thunder over the Boardwalk Air Show in Atlantic City, Wednesday August 20, 2008.
Michael Ein
Click to share your air show photos


GALLERY: Click here to view 2008 Atlantic City Air Show photos

The combination of good weather and a free show led to a record crowd for the sixth annual Atlantic City Air Show: Thunder over the Boardwalk.
Wednesday's show shattered the attendance records set by last year's event, with police estimating that close to 700,000 people packed the beach and Boardwalk. That's 200,000 more people than even the highest estimates for 2007's show.

Organizers had to open up previously closed sections of the beach in front of the tents and viewing stands - barely leaving room for the parachutists' landing pads - in order to make room for the huge swaths of people who made their way onto the sands.

"Our beaches were tight," said Atlantic City Beach Patrol Chief Rod Aluise. "There were heavy crowds all the way down to Albany Avenue from the center of the beach and all the way up on the north side of The Pier. The Boardwalk was packed, from the handicapped ramps all the way up over the dunes."

Cops: Middletown man stole taxi from cab driver :Belmar drunk

Cops: Middletown man stole taxi from cab driver

By MICHELLE SAHN
STAFF WRITER

A Middletown man headed home from a Belmar bar in a taxi, but before the cabbie
reached his destination, the township man grabbed him, threatened him and took the vehicle, police said.

Police arrested Jason Burkowski, 24, of Park Avenue in the Belford section of town around 3:10 a.m. today. He was charged with carjacking, impersonating a police officer, simple assault and driving while intoxicated. He was also issued summonses for motor vehicle violations, police said.

Burkowski was a passenger in a taxi, and at the intersection of Route 35 and Navesink River Road in Middletown, he demanded that the cabbie pull over, said Detective Lt. Joseph C. Capriotti.

When the driver stopped, Burkowski grabbed him and ordered him out of the cab, the lieutenant said.

The driver initially refused, but Burkowski continued to threaten him and told him he was a police officer, said Capriotti.

The cabbie got out of the vehicle and ran away, but Burkowski chased him northbound on Route 35, police said.

About a block away, the cabbie spotted two people, and asked them to call police. He told them that Burkowski had identified himself as an officer, so the two witnesses asked the 24-year-old for identification, police said.

When the Middletown man failed to produce identification, the witnesses dialed 911.

Meanwhile, Burkowski ran back to the cab and drove away.

As Officer Adam Colfer and Corporal Richard Fusella headed to the scene, they spotted the taxi, and they pulled Burkowski over at the intersection of Route 35 North and Apple Farm Road.

They took Burkowski into custody, and his bail was set at $102,500.

The cab driver was not injured, police said.

Officer John Soltysik assisted in the initial investigation and Detective First Class
Gerald Weimer is the lead detective in the follow-up investigation.

Phony Dr.Superintendent H. James Wasser, robs taxpayers

N.J. educators free to use diploma mills
Taxpayers foot the bill for tuition
By ALAN GUENTHER • STAFF WRITER • August 17, 2008


Psst . . . Wanna buy a degree from a diploma mill and stick taxpayers with the bill?

If you're a public school educator, New Jersey won't stop you.

State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said she is powerless to prevent local school boards from handing out tax money to administrators who boost their pay by obtaining degrees with little or no academic value.

When it issued a nine-page report last week, the department entered a growing national controversy about the value of online degrees. But instead of announcing tough new standards, the department made only a few suggestions.

"I feel sorry for New Jersey. Here they had an opportunity to step up to the plate, and they opted not to," said former FBI agent Allen Ezell, who investigated diploma mill fraud for 11 years, then wrote three books on the subject. "I would have thought New Jersey would have had a little more brass than that."

Freehold Regional High School District became the epicenter of the diploma mill controversy in New Jersey when the superintendent and two top administrators obtained degrees from an online school that has been deemed an "apparent diploma mill" by Alabama officials.

After completing an investigation into the administrators' degrees, the education department's report stated there was "no sustainable evidence" that the administrators "possessed the prerequisite intent to deceive when they obtained the degrees" from Breyer State University, which has been chased out of two states and an African country.

The education department report suggested — but did not require — that high school administrators, in the future, earn college degrees from reputable, accredited schools.

None of the three administrators investigated — Superintendent H. James Wasser, Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista and recently retired Assistant Superintendent Frank Tanzini — was required to pay back the $10,750 they received in taxpayer money to obtain degrees from Breyer State.

The board gave raises — $2,500 each per year — for their advanced degrees.

Breyer has been booted out of Idaho, Alabama and the African nation of Liberia.

"Breyer State is a diploma mill. There's no question about it," said Alan Contreras of Oregon's Office of Degree Authorization. "It's obviously a waste of taxpayers' money."

But Education Commissioner Davy said local school boards must write contracts and pay benefits that make sense for taxpayers.

"It is wrong for people to use those diploma mill degrees to increase their salaries," she said. "But I don't have the authority to stop them."

More of the same

On the same day New Jersey issued its report, the Asbury Park Press discovered three more educators who earned what experts say are bogus degrees.

Freehold Regional employees Cheryl Lanza, an English teacher, and Lorraine Taddei-Graef, a learning disabilities teacher consultant, both obtained degrees from Breyer State. Neither could be reached for comment.

Freehold taxpayers reimbursed Lanza $2,050 for her "doctorate of philosophy in education." Taddei-Graef was not reimbursed, according to school district records.

Meanwhile, in the Asbury Park school district, Acting School Superintendent James T. Parham said he paid about $3,000 to receive a "Master of Arts" with a major in special education from Almeda University in Idaho.

Parham said his degree was based on his life experience, and that it took him about a month to put his resume together to get the diploma.

Asked if he received his Almeda degree in return for merely submitting his resume, Parham said, "I also had to do a paper."

How long was the paper?

"The paper must have been about two, maybe three pages," he said.

Parham said the Asbury Park school district did not reimburse him for the master's degree, which he received on Aug. 6, 2006.

Asked why he would pay for the degree, Parham said he thought it "might look good" on his resume, and that "it might add something."

Seven months after receiving the degree, Parham was appointed by the school board at a salary of $110,620 to take the job held by suspended Superintendent Antonio Lewis, who is under criminal investigation by the state Attorney General's Office.

Parham, who was a vice principal in the district, said his Almeda degree did not help him become acting superintendent.

A degree in surgery

Ezell, the former FBI agent, said Almeda's degrees are "a blatant fraud."

With an estimated 4 million students expected to take at least one online college course this fall, national experts like Ezell, University of Illinois professor George Gollin and Contreras say that taxpayers — and students — need to be vigilant against schools offering big credentials for only a little work.

Gollin, a national expert on bogus online degrees, once submitted his resume to a diploma mill and received a master's degree in public administration. Later, he told the school he changed his mind and said he wanted a doctorate degree in thoracic surgery. Once he sent in the money, the school agreed.

Gollin, a physics professor, has never operated on anyone.

He found it surprising that a school superintendent, who is supposed to set the highest academic standards, would purchase a questionable degree, Gollin said.

"We're trying to deal with truth in analysis when we provide education," he said. "To have a superintendent of schools going around, buying false credentials in order to fool people into thinking he has expertise . . . that's just a sign of poor integrity that is astonishing to me."

In his doctoral dissertation, Wasser stated he was mentored by Dominick L. Flarey, the former president of Breyer State.

After investigating the school, Alabama canceled its license and forced the school to leave the state.

So did Idaho. The school currently operates out of a post office box in Los Angeles.

"That's their opinion"

In an e-mail, Flarey said he was no longer president and would not discuss the institution or the degrees awarded to Freehold administrators.

"I have nothing at all to do with the administration of the school. I only teach some courses," he said. Breyer State last week did not list a president on its Web site.

Responding to criticism of Breyer by Ezell, Gollin and Contreras, Wasser said: "That's their opinion."

Wasser staunchly defended the work he did for his degree.

"I did it. I would do it again," said Wasser. "The only thing I would probably do differently, is now that I am aware of this word "accreditation,' I would probably thoroughly research that."

Wasser said he worked for more than a year on his doctoral dissertation and is proud of the final product.

"I am not here to defend Breyer State. If you want to do that, that's your business, or the business of the FBI, the CIA, whoever wants to do it. . . . I can only defend my education and my dissertation."

He said he could have charged taxpayers more.

"In the future, in a few years, what are people going to say about the degrees people earn online? Because online education is the wave of the future now. It's not attending class and sitting in a classroom, which I could have done.

"I could have left my job at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. . . . I could have done that. I chose not to. I could have cost the taxpayers a tremendous amount of money," Wasser said.

In Asbury Park, Parham accessed Almeda University's Web site while he was being interviewed in his office and pointed to an accrediting agency Almeda says has sanctioned its online education program.

But Gollin, who has been calling attention to diploma mills for years, said the bogus schools also often create phony accreditation agencies that try to give a veneer of acceptability to the academically indefensible.

Ezell said only degrees accredited by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation have value and are officially recognized by the federal government. The list of accreditation agencies is available at www.CHEA.org.

"A 10-year-old knows how to use Google," Ezell said. "It's nothing complex. It's all right there."

Sunday 5pm iPhone photo belmar

Belmar NJ beach photo Aug 17th 2008

 

Another packed day at the beach in Belmar Nj

 

another great Sunday in Belmar NJ beach ..this photo is of the 10th ave. beach in Belmar NJ. USA

What happened to this All-American boy?

What happened to this All-American boy?
by Mark Mueller/The Star-Ledger
Saturday August 09, 2008, 8:45 PM

Alone in the dark, Andrew Clark Jr. walked along the rocky apron of the railroad tracks in Spring Lake. He was in a bad way, he told a friend on the phone. He didn't say why. He didn't have to.

It always came back to Bart.

Bart McInerney had been Andrew's baseball coach at St. Rose High School in Belmar. A respected man from a large and well-liked family, he'd been a friend and neighbor of the Clarks in Spring Lake Heights. He'd eaten at their table, talked sports with Andrew's father.

According to prosecutors, he'd also been a sexual predator. Charges filed against McInerney in November allege he repeatedly engaged in explicit conversations with players, hectoring them to provide details of private acts in text messages, offering them condoms and cash incentives.

Andrew was one of his alleged victims, and his parents and friends say the emotional toll was profound, making him prone to occasional bouts of despair. For a half-hour or an hour, he'd find a quiet place and disappear into his thoughts, wrestling with the revulsion and the hatred and the confusion.

On June 20, just after midnight, one of those dark moods brought Andrew to the Wall Road railroad crossing in nearby Spring Lake, the place where another local teen, Tim Schenke, had taken his own life in April after recurring bouts of depression.

Andrew followed the tracks 200 to 250 yards north. There, two days after his 18th birthday, he was sideswiped by an NJ Transit train and killed.

The Monmouth County medical examiner has yet to issue a ruling on Andrew's death. Because he was alongside the tracks and not on them, because he had called a friend for help and promised to wait, his family and friends say with unswerving conviction that he had pulled back from the brink, that his death was an accident.

But they believe with equal conviction that what drove Andrew to the tracks that night, what made him even consider suicide, was Bart McInerney.

"Bart took something from Andrew that he couldn't get back," said Jackie Clark, Andrew's mother. "He began to hate, and he couldn't deal with the hatred and the betrayal. It ate him up inside."

There were other pressures.

In the echo chamber of high school, in a small town of few secrets, everyone seemed to know Andrew had spoken to prosecutors about McInerney, 42, a coaching icon in Spring Lake Heights and neighboring towns. Some people called Andrew a liar. Others teased him, asking in a cutting singsong, "Where's Bart?"

"It didn't happen often, but when it did, he didn't forget about it," said Bryan Nadrowski, 17, one of Andrew's closest friends. "It bothered him."

Andrew was among the first players to come forward. Three weeks after the teen's death, on July 8, Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin announced charges relating to nine more alleged victims dating to 2001. He appealed for others with information about the coach to step forward.
McInerney is now charged with 11 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and faces up to 10 years in prison for each count if convicted. He also would be required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law.

Free on $200,000 bail, he has largely remained inside his Cape Cod-style home, avoiding the local shops and restaurants, according to neighbors and others in the community.

"I would love to comment, but I can't," McInerney said, answering the door on a recent afternoon in shorts and a Pittsburgh Steelers T-shirt. "I don't want to shoot myself in the foot."

His lawyer, Charles Uliano, said his client is innocent.

"Bart McInerney is a good man and would never do anything to harm or endanger another person," Uliano said. "He's not guilty of these allegations."

First Assistant Prosecutor Peter Warshaw said the investigation continues and that evidence will soon be presented to a grand jury. He declined further comment.

In Spring Lake Heights, a close-knit borough of 5,100 people within 1.3 square miles, emotions have been rubbed raw.

In addition to Andrew's death and Tim Schenke's suicide, a third teen, 16-year-old Robert Bannick, died in his sleep in January. McInerney's arrest has hung over the community like a cloud, and residents feel the tension between the Clarks and the McInerneys, both admired families with intertwining friendships.

"Trouble in paradise," Police Chief Mark Steets said in a recent interview, addressing the events of the past nine months with a sigh and a soft shake of his head. "This town has been rocked. Everyone's a little tender right now, a little shaky. We're holding our breaths."


Were Mark Leddy to select a dream team from among the thousands of kids he's coached over 40 years on the Jersey Shore, Andrew Clark might be the first pick.

Soccer is Leddy's game, and soccer is where Andrew, a multi-sport athlete heading into his senior year, shone the brightest. It wasn't just that he could play any position on the field. It wasn't just that when the ball left his foot, it boomed like a rifle shot.
Leddy said Andrew combined charisma and talent with the desire to make those around him better.

First one up for laps, Leddy said. First to clean up after practice. First to help a teammate master footwork or one of the trick shots Andrew had learned at soccer camp.

"Of all the kids I've ever coached, he was just very special young man," said Leddy, who coached Andrew on travel squads and indoor teams from fourth grade until high school.

"He had a natural enthusiasm you just can't teach, and he was as dynamic off the field as on. If you had 20 kids come up to you, you'd immediately notice Andrew. Not just his smile, but the way he interacted with people. He was a bright, multitalented, energetic, world-is-your-oyster kind of kid."

Tom Martin came away with the same impression. The president of both the Spring Lake Heights Borough Council and the local Little League, Martin called Andrew a "wonderful kid from a wonderful family."

"He'd be the first kid in a crowd to come up and shake your hand and say, 'Hey, Mr. Martin, how are you?' This was a kid who had everything together," he said.

Andrew and his younger brother, Shane, 16, grew up on a quiet street across from the Spring Lake Golf Club. With a pool, a wide front porch and an airy, inviting atmosphere, the house was where the brothers' friends always seemed to end up, the doorbell ringing all afternoon and evening.

Jackie Clark, 42, a teacher in Belmar, and Andrew's father, Drew, 46, the borough's code enforcement officer, welcomed the commotion, firing up the grill and cooking sliced steak and buffalo wings by the dozens.

"We liked knowing where they were, and we liked being with them," Jackie Clark said. "We enjoyed the laughter. It just felt like one big happy family."

Life revolved around school and sports. Always sports. Soccer. Basketball. Baseball. Wrestling. Lacrosse. When it came time to decide whether Andrew would attend Manasquan High School, which serves Spring Lake Heights and six other towns, or St. Rose High, the decision was an easy one.

St. Rose had a top-notch soccer coach, Tim McInerney, and an equally distinguished baseball coach, Tim's brother Bart.


For decades, the name McInerney has been synonymous with sports and service in southern Monmouth County. A family of teachers and coaches, the McInerneys collectively have mentored thousands of children.

"Great, great family," says Chief Steets, who grew up with the 11 McInerney siblings.

"They're outstanding citizens," echoes Leddy, the soccer coach.

The family patriarch, James Francis McInerney, was a teacher at St. Catharine School in Spring Lake and later at St. Rose Elementary School, where Jackie Clark was among his students. At St. Rose High, he coached track.

He and his wife were involved in the recreation program in Spring Lake Heights. The program is now headed by their son Pete, the girls basketball coach at the borough's elementary school. A sister, Joan Bassi, is the school's athletic director and a gym teacher there.

Bart, the third youngest of the siblings, seemed no less devoted to kids.

For several years in the 1990s, he was president of the Spring Lake Heights Little League. He was a longtime member of the town's recreation committee. He single-handedly created the Shore Challenge, an annual baseball tournament that attracts dozens of top-flight teams from around the state.

Each Thanksgiving, he organized a popular touch football tournament. In the summers, he ran a baseball league for current and former St. Rose players and a softball league that counted among its members state troopers and police officers.

He had important friends, among them Spring Lake Heights Mayor Elwood Malick, who made McInerney the best man at his wedding last year.

For nearly a decade, he owned a silk-screen printing business that produced uniforms and T-shirts for teams in the area. One of his clients was the police department.

"Before this went down, no one would have ever suspected Bart of anything. Never," said Martin, the council president. "I don't know a family who wouldn't have sent a kid to play for Bart."

McInerney, who is single and lives alone, is also a man of religion. Former players said McInerney attended services at St. Catharine Church several times a week. At St. Rose High, he insisted his players recite the rosary on the team bus while returning from every away game.

"He had the rosary beads, and he would randomly pass them around," said Anthony Pianezza, 20, a St. Rose graduate who now attends Fordham University. "It was kind of annoying because you'd have to say it out loud. We'd be having fun, laughing, talking about the game, and it's like, 'Oh, here we go again. We have to say the rosary.'"

A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Trenton, Rayanne Bennett, said that until the days before McInerney's arrest, St. Rose never received a complaint about him. He had a similarly unblemished record at St. Catharine School, where he worked from the late 1980s until the 1993-94 school year, Bennett said.

Because of his long association with the diocese, McInerney did not undergo a criminal background check in past years, the spokeswoman said. Under newer regulations, she said, he was due for one this year.

Steets said a background check wouldn't have raised an alarm about McInerney. He didn't have a criminal record, the chief said.

"Sometimes you need a crystal ball," he said.

McInerney, a graduate of both St. Catharine and St. Rose, worked as a general aide at the elementary school, his duties including everything from making photocopies to breaking down the lunchroom to organizing games on the playground, Bennett said.

It was at St. Catharine that McInerney first showed his talent for coaching, assisting with girls basketball, track and baseball, recalled Diane Meserlin, a family friend and a retired teacher at the school.

"He has a gift for coaching," Meserlin said.

Few dispute the claim. After McInerney took over the St. Rose baseball program in 1994, the team became a perennial power among parochial schools. In 2005, he won a state title.

"I always thought of him as a good baseball coach who was really passionate about the game," said Justin Herner, 26, who played for St. Rose in 1999.

Herner and other former players say McInerney always seemed to know when to pinch- hit for a batter, which pitchers to send to the mound, how to best stack the lineup. In the dugout, he was easygoing and calm.

Jackie Clark said Andrew, an outfielder who had been on McInerney's team in the local Babe Ruth League, looked forward to playing for him again.

"Andrew liked him," Jackie Clark said. "We liked him. We thought he was a great guy."

That belief came crashing down with one sentence last August.


"Bart's a creeper."

Jackie Clark said the veins in her neck popped out when her son spoke the words. It was his demeanor as much as anything. Embarrassed. Uncomfortable.

He had just returned home from one of McInerney's legendary "bonding" trips, where members of the baseball team accompanied the coach and a select group of chaperons -- assistant coaches and one of McInerney's sisters -- to exotic spots.

They'd see the local sights and play games against local teams. Earlier in the year, Andrew had been to Hawaii. The latest trip took him to Anchorage, Alaska. Parents paid the bills but weren't permitted to attend.

On that August day, Andrew told his mother he didn't want to play baseball anymore.

"I stayed calm," Jackie Clark said. "I said, 'Okay, Angie boy -- I always called him Angie Boy -- tell me what you mean.'"

Coach McInerney was always talking about masturbation, Andrew said. That it was natural, that teenage boys should do it as much as possible. He asked Andrew how often he masturbated, then told him he should do it more often, Jackie Clark said.

The coach never discussed it in front of others; he'd pull Andrew off to the side or corner him in the dugout, Jackie Clark said her son told her.

"You never knew when he was going to talk about it," Jackie Clark said. "One day he could come up and say something about the game, and the next day he would talk about that."

There had been no physical contact, Andrew said. McInerney never showed him pornography or tried to give him a drink.

Jackie and Drew Clark would learn later, when their son spoke to investigators, that McInerney allegedly offered Andrew money for text messages with details about the acts. But in those early talks, the teen held it back.

Jackie Clark said she asked Andrew if he wanted to go to police. He recoiled at the idea, afraid no one would take his word over that of an exalted coach.

"Bart's too big a figure, and I'm going to look like a liar," Jackie Clark recalled her son saying. Other players on the team, he added, "won't tell on Bart."

There was more to the decision. Andrew worried that if he spoke out against McInerney, St. Rose soccer coach Pete McInerney would hold it against him, and success in soccer was important to Andrew's plan to play the sport in college.

Jackie Clark had been good friends with Bart's sister Nancy. Andrew was friendly with one of Bart's nieces. He didn't want to imperil those relationships.

As a family, they decided against calling police. Andrew would quit baseball and continue to play soccer. He would try to steer clear of McInerney.

But he was troubled enough that his friends saw a change.

"We noticed he was acting funny," said Pete Schenke, 17, the brother of the teen who took his life in April. "He wasn't the regular, outgoing, always-ready-to-do-stuff type of kid that he had been. It started to bother him more as time went by."

Little by little, Andrew opened up to Pete Schenke, Bryan Nadrowski and a few others. McInerney, he told them, had offered $5 for each text message. When Andrew refused, the coach offered $10, he said. Andrew told them he never took the money.

He swore his friends to secrecy. He didn't want it getting out.

It would be out soon enough.


Jackie Clark was in her classroom when two Belmar detectives arrived at the school in late November. Someone had given the names of Andrew and a teammate to the prosecutor's office, saying they were potential victims of abuse. Would Andrew be willing to talk about it?

For more than 24 hours, Andrew wrestled with that question, his mother said. Ultimately, he agreed to cooperate.

"He said he didn't want what happened to him to happen to other children, to the younger kids coming in," Jackie Clark said. "He was adamant about that."

The meeting, held at Belmar police headquarters, went on for hours. What Jackie Clark heard stunned her.

Her son spoke of text messages and offers of cash, delving into lurid details in her presence for the first time. Andrew also told detectives about a hidden camera found by one of the players during the trip to Alaska.

Jackie Clark, citing the ongoing investigation, said she could not elaborate on the topic. Warshaw, the spokesman for the prosecutor's office, declined to comment when asked about it, as did McInerney's lawyer.

On the night of Nov. 29, a Thursday, detectives arrested McInerney. When the news broke the next day, most of those familiar with the coach expressed shock.

But not everyone.

Casey Cannon, a former player who graduated from St. Rose in June, said he had heard rumors that McInerney had acted inappropriately.

He himself hadn't been approached by the coach, Cannon said, and "it was so hard to believe that it didn't really hit me until the charges were filed."

Those rumors, it turned out, went back years.

Pianezza, the former St. Rose student who recalled reciting the rosary on the team bus, said a number of players were uncomfortable around the coach.

"Andrew wasn't the only one who felt that way," Pianezza said. "A lot of kids felt that way."

For one former player, McInerney's arrest brought back experiences he'd just as soon forget. The player, now an adult, spoke to authorities after McInerney was charged in November. His statements form the basis for one of the nine counts filed against McInerney last month.

The player, who spoke to The Star-Ledger on the condition that his name and age be withheld to protect his identity, gave a detailed account of his years with McInerney, saying the coach carefully targeted players, tested the waters with them and then relentlessly engaged them in graphic conversations.

"He definitely profiled people," the player said. "He'd only do it to people he thought he could deal with, people who were respectful of authority figures and trusting. If he sensed you were like, 'What the (expletive) are you talking about?' he wouldn't raise it again."

The player said McInerney first broached the topic of sex by asking how far he'd been with a girl. Before long, McInerney would steer the conversation to masturbation, the player said.

"He would want to know how many times you did it and how long it lasted, whether or not you watched porn before, whether or not you were using condoms," the player said.

Sometimes, he said, the talks took place in the middle of practice, leaving the player glancing around to make sure no one was in earshot.

"He would pull you off the side and say, 'So you been getting¤'em in?'" the player said, referring to masturbation. "It was like, 'Can I just go and practice?'"

On the first occasion, he said, he had stopped by the coach's house to say hello, something current and former players did from time to time. McInerney, he said, proceeded to talk about sex and masturbation for several hours.

"Obviously it's creepy, but he didn't sound creepy," the player said. "His body language was almost like he was enjoying the conversation. Me on the chair facing him, I'm sure I looked completely freaked out, and he's kicking back, relaxing. He'd almost joke to lighten the mood, like, 'You must be dying right now.'"

The player described McInerney's basement as a kind of "Neverland Ranch," with a basketball machine and an air hockey table.

McInerney sent him instant messages on the computer, asking for details, and later asked for cell phone text messages, the player said. In return, he said, McInerney offered to buy him a bat and a glove, items he refused because he did not know how to explain them to his parents.

Even after graduation and until the weeks before the coach's November arrest, McInerney continued to call, the former player said. Most of the time he didn't answer. Occasionally, he said, he relented in the hope it would make McInerney go away for a while.

In one conversation, he said, McInerney told him it was better to masturbate than to have sex with a woman if he'd had one too many drinks.

"I just worry about you," he quoted McInerney as saying. "I don't want to see you do anything stupid."

The player said he kept the conversations secret for so long for a simple reason.

"Who would want to talk about that?" he asked. "I still haven't told my parents everything. Even though they're your parents and they're going to love you no matter what, it's still hard to say it."


The toll that sexual abuse takes on victims has been well documented. It instills feelings of guilt and shame. It corrodes self-esteem. It can lead to confusion and depression.

If the abuser is a teacher or a cop or a coach, a victim might feel powerless to stop it, creating an inner war between feelings of disgust and an ingrained respect for authority, said Peter Harris, the chairman of psychiatry at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

"That conflict may continue long after the abuse goes away," Harris said. "He or she may feel scarred, defective -- literally, like someone missing a hand will feel defective."

Relationships may suffer. Rejection may be more difficult to take.

When a victim is a teenager, there is the added fuel of roiling emotions. Teens tend to "catastrophize" events, Harris said, swinging in a matter of moments from normalcy to utter despondency -- even to suicidal moods -- over disappointments.

Sometimes the signs are obvious -- irritability, a sudden lack of personal hygiene or failing schoolwork, for instance -- and sometimes they're all but absent.

Andrew, his family and friends said, showed no consistent signs of depression. Mostly, he was the same old Andrew, flashing the trademark grin captured in so many photos, throwing himself into sports, enjoying friends.

But he had his moments.

"During the week, he'd be mostly fine. School and sports took his mind off it," Bryan Nadrowski said. "But on the weekends, it would bother him."

Cruel comments didn't help.

"When it all came out, a couple members of the (St. Rose) baseball team were really on him," Pete Schenke said. "One kid on the team said to Andrew, 'If I see you around, I'm gonna beat you up.' It was Andrew's life getting messed up, and this guy threatened him. Andrew got real upset about that."

Some people said he had made the story up, Bryan said. Then there were the taunts, drive-by references to McInerney from kids who learned Andrew had come forward.

"Everyone knew," Bryan said. "Sometimes he would even joke about it, but only with our close circle of friends, because he knew we supported him. It was different when other people did it."

Immediately after McInerney's arrest, Andrew transferred to Manasquan High, where his friends and brother were students. He began to play baseball again. He joined the lacrosse team. But he couldn't shake the feeling that McInerney was hanging over him, interfering with his life, his friends said. That translated into girl troubles.

"He wanted to prove to himself that girls still liked him, and not just old men," Pete Schenke said. "He was looking for a long-term girlfriend, and if a girl said no to him, it really got to him."

As a precaution, Andrew began to see a therapist. Jackie and Drew Clark watched their son for behavioral changes, but none leaped out at them, and Andrew insisted he was fine.

In January came news that a Spring Lake Heights teenager had died. The rumor mill spit out the notion that 16-year-old Robert Bannick, known at Manasquan High as Bobby, had overdosed on drugs, perhaps even committed suicide.

Two weeks ago, the medical examiner ruled that Bannick did neither. Suffering from pneumonia, he aspirated in his sleep, according to the ME's report.

Andrew knew Bannick but wasn't friends with him. Three months later, a death would hit much closer to home.

Tim Schenke, due to graduate in June, was ranked fourth in his class at Manasquan High. A member of the National Honor Society, he had been awarded a $100,000 scholarship to Drexel University, where he planned to study engineering. Two years running, he was the starting sweeper on the varsity soccer team.

He also struggled off and on with depression, said his mother, Lisa Schenke.

"He was loved by many, but unfortunately, he didn't love himself," she said. "He was capable but not confident, and things got worse after a girl dropped him in December, and then it got worse after Bobby's death. He knew Bobby."

In January, even before Bannick's death, Tim Schenke threatened to commit suicide, prompting his parents to have him committed for intensive psychiatric treatment. He soon convinced doctors he was no longer a threat to take his own life, and because he had turned 18, he was permitted to sign himself out, Lisa Schenke said.

He continued with treatment on an outpatient basis. He said he felt better, his mother said.

And then, at 6:40 p.m. on April 26, he stepped in front of an NJ Transit train at the Wall Road crossing.

Pete Schenke said Andrew proved an incredible comfort after his brother's death, staying by his side for days.

"He was hugging me and looked me straight in the eye and said, 'We'll never let this happen again. We'll be best friends forever, for the rest of our lives,'" Pete Schenke said.

Jackie Clark, concerned about the effect of Tim Schenke's death on her son, brought Andrew to extra therapy sessions. She talked with him about suicide.

"He spoke about how selfish it was," she said. "He knew the pain that family felt. He consoled them. He said, 'I would never hurt anyone like that.'"

In the weeks that followed, life returned to its natural rhythms. School and sports. Get-togethers and laughs. But Andrew's dark moods seemed to intensify, Pete Schenke said.

Thinking about McInerney bothered him more, his friends said. Just driving by the coach's house, knowing he was in there and not in a cell, made him angry. At some point, he knew, he would have to testify before the grand jury, and he was mentally preparing himself for the moment.

As always, he shook off the ugliness.

On the night of June 19 -- graduation night for Manasquan's seniors -- he seemed to be feeling great.


Outside Manasquan High School, Andrew let out a whoop.

Summer vacation had arrived. In two days, he'd be in the Cayman Islands with his family and the Nadrowskis. In the fall, he'd be a senior. Top of the food chain.

College recruiters had already sent letters. Bucknell. Quinnipiac. Rider. He'd signed up for an SAT review course.

In the meantime, he'd spend his summer in the sun, lifeguarding at a local apartment complex, hanging with friends, staying sharp on the ballfield.

"That was one of the best moods I'd seen him in in a long time," Pete Schenke said. "He was so happy and looking forward to his senior year. He was screaming and talking on the phone. He said, 'We're gonna have the best time of our lives next year.'"

It was just after 9 p.m. Andrew and Pete had attended the graduation ceremony, where speakers noted the passing of Bobby Bannick and Tim Schenke, saying the Class of 2008 had overcome tragedy and adversity.

By 9:30, they were at a party at a friend's house.

"People were hanging around the pool in back," Pete said. "It was a good time."

At 11 p.m., Jackie Clark checked in with her son on the phone.

"He sounded happy as a lark," she said. "He said that if he needed a ride, he'd call."

At about 11:45, Andrew told Pete he was heading out.

"Yo, dawg, hit me up tomorrow," Andrew told him. "We'll get some pork roll at the Bagel Basket."

There had been beer at the party, but Andrew definitely didn't seem drunk, Pete said. He was still in a good mood. Normal.

Andrew walked out.

At 12:02 a.m. on June 20, Bryan Nadrowski's cell phone rang.

He was walking with a friend, not far from his home. It was Andrew. Bryan instantly recognized trouble in his voice.

"I'm at the tracks," Andrew told him.

"What tracks?" Bryan asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, what town?" Bryan asked again.

"Spring Lake," Andrew answered.

"Wait for me."

Andrew said he would.

Bryan sprinted for the Wall Road crossing. At 12:05, his phone rang again. Still running, he answered. Then the call cut off. The caller ID showed it was Andrew.

Bryan immediately called back. Straight to voice mail.

It was still 12:05 when Bryan dialed Pete Schenke.

"Bryan said something had happened at the tracks, and Andrew wasn't answering his phone," he said.

Pete tried Andrew's phone, too. Voice mail.

He ran for the tracks.

Chief Steets was at home, still awake, when his house phone and cell phone rang at the same time. One call was from headquarters, the other from a relative whose child had been text-messaged with word that someone had been hit by a train.

"Oh no," he recalled thinking. "Not again."

In the few minutes it took to get to the crossing, hundreds of teens had gathered, summoned by phone and text message, Steets said. Many were crying.

School officials opened Manasquan High and called in counselors. Scores of people would remain there deep into the night.


Andrew's friends and family may never learn what triggered the mood in those final minutes.

Did someone make a comment as he left the party? Did it strike on its own?

Jackie Clark believes her son suffered a moment of bad judgment in going to the tracks. She wishes he had called her, let her fix things.

She takes some solace in the belief that Andrew, despite the dangerous thoughts in his head, changed his mind.

The train's engineer, the man at the controls, would tell police no one was on the tracks as the engine and its three coaches sliced through the night toward Bay Head at 60 mph.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone directly next to the tracks and applied the emergency braking system, NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett said.

"Unfortunately and tragically, somehow Andrew came into contact with the train," she said.

Some 4,200 people attended Andrew's memorial service, nearly filling the lower level of the sprawling Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove.

In their own ways, Andrew's family and friends are seeking to honor his memory.

Pete Schenke will play soccer at Manasquan High in the fall; Andrew had urged him to go out for the team. Bryan Nadrowski wears Andrew's armband. Two weeks ago, he had Andrew's initials tattooed on his chest.

Both are selling T-shirts to benefit a scholarship fund established by Andrew's parents.

Jackie Clark said the best way she can honor Andrew is to see that Bart McInerney goes to prison. She has recently hired a lawyer, and she plans to sue both the coach and his employer, the Diocese of Trenton.

"This man twisted my son's mind," she said. "Andrew couldn't verbalize the torment that was inside him. I have a louder voice. To the day I die, I will make sure that justice is served."



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COMMENTS (23)Post a comment
Posted by baligirl on 08/09/08 at 9:46PM
I am also a mom and this story made me so angry. Jackie Clark please stay strong and remember you raised a courageous young man.

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by tillielouwho on 08/09/08 at 10:57PM
I'm sorry for the pain this entire community is facing right now. Y'all keep strong and together. It might be the toughest fight of your lives; but, keep at it, Jackie Clark. These kids need closure..Bless you all!

Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by kathcalla on 08/10/08 at 1:26AM

Bayhead Beach come vist the hidden beach last stop on the train, only a few stops past Belmar

The last stop on the North Jersey Coast Line, Bay Head is a country village by the sea with a modest business district and a quiet beach.

Public beach


Costs: $6 daily; $45 half-season; $65 season. Free for children 11 and younger accompanied by an adult.

Parking is available in the municipal lot on Bridge Avenue and on nearby streets, with some time restrictions in certain areas.

Lifeguards are on duty from 10 a.m. to 5:25 p.m. from mid-June through Labor Day.

The beach is accessible to the disabled via a platform at Howe Street. Beach wheelchairs are not available.

Food, beverages and dogs are not allowed on the beach. Water in clear plastic containers is permitted. No showers or restrooms are available.

Bay Head has no boardwalk, but a mile to the north Point Pleasant Beach offers amusements, restaurants and shops; and immediately to the west Barnegat Bay offers boating, fishing and water-skiing.

Residents of other municipalities may apply for beach badges by mailing a self-addressed, stamped business envelope to the Bay Head Improvement Association, Box 42, Bay Head, NJ 08742-0042. Applications will be mailed in return.

They also may purchase badges at the improvement association's office at Lake Avenue and Mount Street, open during business hours seven days a week starting May 31.

For information, call (732) 892-4179.

Facts
Location: Bay Head is at the northern end of Barnegat Bay, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Mantoloking to the south, Point Pleasant to the west and Point Pleasant Beach to the north.
Size: 0.6 square miles
Population: 1,238 (2000 Census)

The community

Most specialty shops, bed and breakfast inns and restaurants are located along Main Avenue and Bridge Avenue, which crosses a body of water between Bay Head Harbor and Twilight Lake and connects Bay Head to Point Pleasant.

Bay Head's low-key, small town image is closely guarded by its residents. When a utility company tried to bring electricity and trolleys into town, the mayor and council, armed with axes and snippers, cut down the installed poles and electric wires.



A town of distinct individuality, Bay Head has been called by some "the crown jewel" of the strand of beaches that constitutes Barnegat Beach Island. The timeless beauty of this small country village by the sea is both elegant and casual, creating a mystique that has endured for generations. Since the late 1800's Bay Head has been the favorite vacation place for those who enjoy a certain kind of quiet, a relaxing yet friendly way of life, and a safe haven in which to pursue both land and sea activities.
The Atlantic Ocean and its beaches have attracted sea and sun worshipers for centuries,. In earlier times, the Lenape Indians came for the pleasures of the sea. Today, swimming, surfing, fishing, and the general enjoyment of the natural, uncrowded, lifeguarded beaches make Bay Head a favorite for those who like a quiet time. A small daily beach entrance fee is required during summer months.

Things to do at Bay Head
The recreational specialties of Barnegat Bay include crabbing, windsurfing, waterskiing, power and sailboating. An added bonus is the glorious sunset settling over the bay on many a summer's (and winter's) evening. The people who return year after year to Bay Head take great pleasure in some less publicized everyday activities such as collecting shells and sea glass on the beach, bicycling on quiet village streets, and perhaps best of all feeding the ducks.

Summer fun at Bar A in Lake Como

 

Saturday was Budweiser's Rodeo Night at Bar-a
Mechanical Bull!

HOTEL OWNER'S A BEACH BUM

HOTEL OWNER'S A BEACH BUM
July 17, 2008 --

BILLIONAIRE Manhattan hotelier Patrick Denihan pledges to make his guests comfortable - but get too close to his oceanfront home on the Jersey shore, and he'll turn into a nasty pit bull.

A Trenton couple tells Page Six that Denihan, who owns Manhattan's Benjamin and Affinia hotels, went ballistic last weekend when they set their umbrella up on the public beach near his house in Bay Head.

"He comes out and starts bullying us. He says, 'This is private property. You have to leave right now,' " Jeff Pillets - who, like his girlfriend, Elise Young, is a reporter for North Jersey newspaper The Record - told us. "When we told him there's no such thing as a private beach in New Jersey, he said, 'If you want a scene, well, make a scene, I'll call the police.' And he just stands behind us and says. 'I'm not going to leave until you leave,' so Elise called the police.

"When they arrived, they told us, 'This guy's crazy, you are perfectly within your rights,' and went to speak to him," Pillets continued. "What kills me is that after the police left, he says absolutely nothing. If he had one ounce of class, he would've come over and said, 'Hey, sorry for wrecking your day.' And this guy is one of the big hospitality magnates and talks about how well people are treated at his hotels - then he goes and tries to kick people off a public beach. We were perfectly well behaved. I was listening to Garrison Keillor on my iPod and my girlfriend was reading 'The History of the Depression.' "

Young has written to New Jersey Public Advocate Ronald Chen asking him to investigate the incident. "We were being harassed," she writes. "How many others illegally have been bullied off this beach by property owners who feel entitled to enforce their own rules?"

Denihan's office said he would have no comment.

Can you imagine how crowded Belmar would be without a beach fee ?

 

3pm Sunday

Noon time Sunday Belmar is packed

Well, I guess all the tourists know that Belmer has the nicest beaches
and cleanest restrooms every three blocks.

9am photo Belmar beach is already busy