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Toms River Embraces Its New Status as Family Entertainment Destination

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Toms River Embraces Its New Status as Family Entertainment Destination

TOMS RIVER, NJ (OP-ED) – A wave of excitement is sweeping through Toms River as the town transforms into a burgeoning entertainment and outdoor dining hub, leaving behind its decades-old reputation as a sleepy bedroom community with a relatively mundane downtown district.

Long-time residents recall a childhood filled with trips to the mall, beach outings, and neighborhood bike rides, but as they reached adulthood, entertainment options were sparse, limited mostly to house parties and bars.

The other option for young adults and adults was to seek entertainment elsewhere because it didn’t exist within Toms River.

Today, under the leadership of newly elected Mayor Daniel Rodrick, Toms River is charting a new course he has been trying to push to the municipal government for years as a councilman. Those calls typically fell upon deaf ears.

The town now boasts a variety of attractions including outdoor dining events downtown, a concert series on the bay at Shelter Cove, and movie nights in Huddy Park.

The fireworks at Shelter Cove this week also kicked off a plan to have weekly fireworks downtown, although the fireworks after the concert were a huge hit for all residents. That could change.

New recreational facilities, such as kayak ramps, jet ski slips, and a splash park for children, enhance the town’s appeal. A public dock featuring a seasonal pop-up cantina adds to the vibrant summer atmosphere. The township is also planning to connect the two separated sections of the Ortley Beach Boardwalk, which was approved earlier this year.

Mayor Rodrick, who captured 70% of the vote, is steering Toms River away from the previous administration’s push to densify and commercialize the downtown area.

His administration has opposed plans such as a 10-story skyscraper, a vision of former Mayor Mo Hill, reflecting a significant shift in developmental philosophy. Additionally, Rodrick has resisted state-supported developments at the Cebagi site, joining a lawsuit to prevent the transformation of the former Superfund site into a mixed-use development.

Enhancing Toms River’s entertainment offerings, the town has introduced bayfront fireworks—a spectacle never before seen in Toms River or the previous Dover Township—and plans to continue expanding entertainment options each summer and even in the off-season.

Toms River Embraces Its New Status as Family Entertainment Destination

Proposals for a Downtown winter village and ice skating rink have also been discussed to attract visitors year-round, signaling a future where Toms River could become a regional attraction for its festive environment and community-focused events.

For now, less than one year into his term, Rodrick is making good on promises to turn the page on the previous administration’s plan to build dozens of hi-rise apartment buildings, a hail mary plan that relied on higher density development to encourage a few more businesses to set up shop downtown.

Rodrick’s plan calls for making downtown Toms River and other parts of town a destination center, free of overdevelopment, apartments and megastructures, and has said private businesses and investors, if they see the opportunity, could follow suit, but opposed the notion that, “If you build bigger and higher, they will come.”

Toms River Embraces Its New Status as Family Entertainment Destination

Instead of skyscrapers and apartments, Rodrick envisions a downtown with a huge waterfront dock, a spray park for families, riverside dining, romantic sunset walks along the docks, boat parking for local restaurants, entertainment events, and to preserve the natural beauty that originally drew settlers to the area in the 1700s and embracing the seaport lifestyle, rejecting urbanization.

  • New Orleans Man Sentenced for Carjacking and Firearm Offenses

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA — Devon Frith, a 25-year-old resident of New Orleans, was sentenced today to a total of 101 months in prison for carjacking and related firearm offenses. U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk issued the sentence following Frith’s earlier guilty plea to charges of carjacking and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

    The incident, which took place on April 10, 2023, involved Frith carjacking a vehicle in the Central City area of New Orleans. During the crime, Frith, masked and gloved, brandished a loaded Glock Model 26 handgun equipped with an extended magazine containing 17 live rounds, and demanded the car keys from the victim. He subsequently drove the stolen vehicle to the Westbank, where he crashed into a fence and another parked vehicle. Frith was apprehended by police within minutes of the crash, and the handgun was recovered, still wrapped in the sweatshirt he wore during the carjacking.

    In sentencing, Judge Africk ordered Frith to serve 41 months for the carjacking and an additional 60 months consecutively for the firearm charge. Following his prison term, Frith will be under supervised release for five years and is also required to pay a $100 special assessment fee for each count of conviction.

    U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans commended the New Orleans Police Department for their swift action in apprehending Frith and recovering the firearm used during the offense.

  • Toms River Embraces Its New Status as Family Entertainment Destination

    TOMS RIVER, NJ (OP-ED) – A wave of excitement is sweeping through Toms River as the town transforms into a burgeoning entertainment and outdoor dining hub, leaving behind its decades-old reputation as a sleepy bedroom community with a relatively mundane downtown district.

    Long-time residents recall a childhood filled with trips to the mall, beach outings, and neighborhood bike rides, but as they reached adulthood, entertainment options were sparse, limited mostly to house parties and bars.

    The other option for young adults and adults was to seek entertainment elsewhere because it didn’t exist within Toms River.

    Today, under the leadership of newly elected Mayor Daniel Rodrick, Toms River is charting a new course he has been trying to push to the municipal government for years as a councilman. Those calls typically fell upon deaf ears.

    The town now boasts a variety of attractions including outdoor dining events downtown, a concert series on the bay at Shelter Cove, and movie nights in Huddy Park.

    The fireworks at Shelter Cove this week also kicked off a plan to have weekly fireworks downtown, although the fireworks after the concert were a huge hit for all residents. That could change.

    New recreational facilities, such as kayak ramps, jet ski slips, and a splash park for children, enhance the town’s appeal. A public dock featuring a seasonal pop-up cantina adds to the vibrant summer atmosphere. The township is also planning to connect the two separated sections of the Ortley Beach Boardwalk, which was approved earlier this year.

    Mayor Rodrick, who captured 70% of the vote, is steering Toms River away from the previous administration’s push to densify and commercialize the downtown area.

    His administration has opposed plans such as a 10-story skyscraper, a vision of former Mayor Mo Hill, reflecting a significant shift in developmental philosophy. Additionally, Rodrick has resisted state-supported developments at the Cebagi site, joining a lawsuit to prevent the transformation of the former Superfund site into a mixed-use development.

    Enhancing Toms River’s entertainment offerings, the town has introduced bayfront fireworks—a spectacle never before seen in Toms River or the previous Dover Township—and plans to continue expanding entertainment options each summer and even in the off-season.

    Proposals for a Downtown winter village and ice skating rink have also been discussed to attract visitors year-round, signaling a future where Toms River could become a regional attraction for its festive environment and community-focused events.

    For now, less than one year into his term, Rodrick is making good on promises to turn the page on the previous administration’s plan to build dozens of hi-rise apartment buildings, a hail mary plan that relied on higher density development to encourage a few more businesses to set up shop downtown.

    Rodrick’s plan calls for making downtown Toms River and other parts of town a destination center, free of overdevelopment, apartments and megastructures, and has said private businesses and investors, if they see the opportunity, could follow suit, but opposed the notion that, “If you build bigger and higher, they will come.”

    Instead of skyscrapers and apartments, Rodrick envisions a downtown with a huge waterfront dock, a spray park for families, riverside dining, romantic sunset walks along the docks, boat parking for local restaurants, entertainment events, and to preserve the natural beauty that originally drew settlers to the area in the 1700s and embracing the seaport lifestyle, rejecting urbanization.

  • Midlothian Man Pleads Guilty to Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Scheme

    RICHMOND, VA. — Adam Lamar Harrell, a 41-year-old Midlothian resident, entered a guilty plea yesterday for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme that led to the misappropriation of millions from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). Harrell faced charges including mail fraud, federal program theft, and tax evasion.

    Court documents indicate that Harrell, who began his employment at VDH on August 10, 2013, and later became the Associate Director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) on September 10, 2019, exploited his position to embezzle funds. As the Associate Director, Harrell was responsible for overseeing Virginia’s emergency response programs and its related IT systems.

    From January 2021 to May 2023, Harrell used a company he owned, Strategic Tech Innovations, LLC, to create and submit 15 fraudulent invoices for unprovided services and technology to OEMS. He directed these invoices through the Western Virginia EMS Council to bypass VDH’s usual vendor approval processes, thereby avoiding scrutiny and approving the payments himself.

    The funds from these invoices, totaling $4,337,395, were used by Harrell for personal expenditures, including real estate, luxury vehicles, firearms, and jewelry. Additionally, Harrell engaged in tax evasion by underreporting his income and overstating expenses on his tax returns, resulting in an underpayment of $1,880,287.34 in federal income taxes.

    Harrell is set to be sentenced on November 20, facing up to 20 years in prison. The sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge, taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant factors.

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