Newsnotes 6-24-09
Jul, 03-2009 6:30 pm
Recall Update: judge, lawyers meet
WILDWOOD – The Superior Court lawsuit brought jointly by the Committees to Recall Mayor Ernest Troiano, Jr., and Commissioner William Davenport has been assigned to Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten.
The committees filed the lawsuit on June 15, challenging the determination of City Clerk Chris Wood – acting in the capacity of a recall election official – that both recall petitions should be voided for failing to contain sufficient numbers of signatures. Wood excluded hundreds of signatures for what the recall committees contend were invalid reasons.
Batten conducted a management conference with the parties’ attorneys on Monday, June 22.
Troiano and Davenport were represented by Atlantic City attorneys Robert Sandman and Colin Bell at the conference, and Wood was represented by Wildwood attorney Marcus Karavan. The recall committees were represented by Atlantic City attorney Dan Gallagher.
Troiano and Davenport were given until this Friday, June 26, to file their answer to the recall committees’ complaint, and the committees then will have a week to file a reply brief.
Since the case is an election matter and on an expedited track, hearings may begin as early as July 15.
Dennis Hall dies in Louisiana shooting
WILDWOOD CREST – Community members were stunned and saddened to learn of the shooting death of Dennis Hall, 36, son of long-time residents Art and Patricia Hall, in Louisiana on Sunday night, June 21.
Dennis Hall, his wife Celeste, and three children lived in Wildwood Crest until early last year, when they moved to a farm property just outside Converse, Louisiana.
Patricia Hall has written lovingly of that Louisiana area in guest editorials in the Cape May County Herald, a local newspaper owned by a Hall family corporation. The extended Hall family gathered for summer reunions there, and friends said the Halls were planning a July 4 reunion this year.
According to the Shreveport Times and local television Station KTBS-TV, throughout the day on Monday officials of Sabine Parish were investigating the circumstances of Dennis Hall’s death by a shotgun blast.
Authorities said Celeste Hall called 911 shortly after 11 p.m. June 21 to report that her husband was shot while hunting armadillos in the family’s front yard. (If not contained, armadillos cause great damage to foliage in some parts of the south, and it is not unusual for a homeowner to hunt them down at night.)
Sabine Deputy Coroner Ron Rivers said Monday that Hall was killed with a shotgun from a distance of several feet and “it was definitely not a self-inflicted shotgun wound.”
Hall reportedly was hunting with a handgun which was found on the ground outside the home, but the shotgun that killed him has not been located.
Authorities said that after he was shot, Hall was able to return into his home before collapsing.
The death was being investigated as a homicide, according to authorities.
Dennis Hall attended several local schools, including Wildwood Catholic High School.
Along with his wife, children and parents, Hall is survived by brother Benjamin, sister Anna Faith and her husband Keith Mauck, and sister Meredith and her husband Paul Steurnagle, as well as many loving relatives and friends.
Friends said Art and Patricia Hall left for Louisiana shortly after receiving news of the incident, with other family members expected to follow shortly.
Firefighters control blaze quickly
NORTH WILDWOOD – Early Sunday morning, June 21, firefighters from both Wildwood and North Wildwood responded to a site at the 1700 block of Central Avenue, controlling the fire within 10 minutes of their arrival.
A ground floor bakery, and one out of three upstairs apartment units, were damaged in the fire, according to North Wildwood Fire Department Captain Eugene Sanguinetti. The apartment was destroyed by fire and the bakery sustained water damage, he said.
No major personal injuries were sustained, but several firefighters were treated for cuts and scrapes.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
DNA evidence not enough, lawyer says
COURT HOUSE – The attorney for a cold-case defendant accused of a sexual assault that allegedly occurred nine years ago at Higbee Beach says he will move to dismiss the indictment lodged against his client.
Wildwood lawyer David Stefankiewicz stated in court last Friday that he will file a motion asserting that the case against Dylan Thomas Ravel must be dismissed entirely because the state did not present supporting evidence sufficient to issue an indictment.
Ravel, formerly of Wildwood and Rio Grande, was charged with rape based upon DNA evidence allegedly gathered at the time of the incident and only recently matched in a DNA database that included DNA taken from Ravel during his incarceration in a Nevada state prison some five years ago. He currently is being held in the Cape May County Correctional Facility.
Hold-up reported in Crest
WILDWOOD CREST – Late Tuesday morning, June 16, two men reported to police that they were held up at gunpoint by a man carrying a handgun, police said on June 19.
The incident occurred near the intersection of New Jersey and Heather Avenues. The perpetrator took several items, then ran to a dark-colored SUV located near Aster Road and Park Boulevard and escaped, according to police.
The perpetrator reportedly was a white male with dark hair and medium build, about 5’ 10’’ tall. He wore blue jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt.
If you have any information about the incident, call Detective Robert Lloyd at 522-2456.
North Wildwood man jumps off Redding Bridge
WILDWOOD – Wildwood Police, Lower Township Police, and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to calls for assistance after Mark Conner, 46, of North Wildwood, jumped off the George Redding Bridge here shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday evening, June 20. Police charged Conner, who was not hurt, with disorderly conduct.
The George Redding Bridge, completed in 1903 as the island’s first bridge, connects Wildwood with Rio Grande.
Police report 3,415 May incidents
NORTH WILDWOOD – Police here handled 3,415 calls during the period May 1 through May 31.
Police answered calls relating to 21 motor vehicle accidents, 22 thefts, 10 burglaries, one fraud case, two simple assaults, one aggravated assault, and eight drug offenses.
Other incidents included 456 disorderly persons offenses, 27 malicious property damage calls, 541 traffic enforcement, 711 summonses issued, 85 medical incidents, 12 recovered stolen items, 15 animal complaints and the department responded to 83 false burglar alarms. There were 153 persons arrested which included 149 adults and there were six drunken driving arrests. There were 1,029 residential and business property checks conducted and police assisted the fire department at one fire. There were eight false fire alarms in May.
Additional calls covered 13 other agency assists. There were two police personnel injuries and there were 1,065 miscellaneous services. Five beach and boardwalk permits were processed and $630.25 in fee collections was forwarded to the city clerk.
Department personnel attended five local schools in May.
Paxton files bankruptcy
THE WILDWOODS – Local restaurateur Jon Paxton filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Camden on June 11.
Paxton owns Juan Pablo’s Mexican Restaurant and Margarita Bar, and Jon Paul Café in Wildwood, and JP Prime, a North Wildwood steakhouse.
JP Prime was embroiled in controversy over the past year when it remained open without a final certificate of occupancy. City officials finally sued Paxton in Superior Court, resulting in Paxton’s closure of the restaurant for what was said to be a temporary period.
Neither JP Prime nor Jon Paul Café have re-opened for the summer season, but Juan Pablo’s is doing business as usual.
What recession?
WILDWOOD – Regardless what economic conditions may be elsewhere, indicators here proceed swimmingly as the Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce announces yet a few more openings of new establishments.
A grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony for Funhouse Arcade, at 3800 Boardwalk in the Boardwalk Mall, will take place on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 11 a.m.
A grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting of Island’s Best Rentals, at 5701 New Jersey Avenue in Wildwood Crest, will take place on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
And a grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony for The Strand Movie Theater, at 3102 Boardwalk, will take place on Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 11 a.m.
Police raise funds for fallen colleague
WILDWOOD – Members of the Philadelphia Police Department have established a trust fund for the family of Officer John Pawlowski, who was killed in the line of duty on Friday, February 13, 2009.
A fundraiser will be held for the fund on Saturday, Sept. (raindate Sept. 6) at Morey's Piers. Tickets, at $40 each, must be purchased in advance and will be available online only.
On the day of the event, participants will have access to Morey’s Mariner’s landing pier (noon to midnight); Morey’s Surf Side pier (noon to midnight); Morey’s Adventure pier (2 p.m. to midnight); Raging Waters Waterpark (10 am. To 6 p.m.); and Ocean Oasis Waterpark (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).
A catered picnic lunch will be served between noon and 2 p.m. at the Rendezvous Beach Pavilion located on Mariner’s Landing pier.
