[This story has been updated to reflect the latest events involving the Lacey School District] In Lacey, under Superintendent Sandra Brower, the face of the school district lost its voice. It lost what once gave it pride, a sense of openness that other districts could envy — even as it has endured, over the past two decades, tragedy as well as the trivial. Under Brower, it chose to stay silent, even on the simplest of matters. Even on the trivial. Reporters and editors once could merely walk up to the superintendent, ask a question and get an answer, however short. Soon after Brower was hired…

Right up until he died Sunday, Scott Doty did everythng from scratch. Or as one friend said, "he did it from the ground up," right out of the garages and soccer fields of Barnegat Township. Everything he did, school officials and friends say, was authentic, original and no-frills - the kind of stuff that was genuine, and never phony. He did everything for his hometown of Barnegat, like building his race car from scratch, painting it with the Bengal colors of orange and black and racing number "4" at the New Egypt Speedway. He never pretended to be anything more - or want anything bigger than …

The sloping, swirling roller coaster sure looks the same, the same one I once had to push uphill - knowing that one little slip, and I was roadkill - to get it where it is now, on the Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk.We got in the back of the truck trailer that carried it, flattened our hands, pinned our arms against it and moved the strapped-down machinery slowly, inch-by-inch, up a rocky driveway that seemed steeper than a hill in Appalachia. With every slow, careful shove forward, the big two-ton hulking mass would roll one quick and perilous step back toward us, ready to roll us onto Ocean …

The doctors said his head size was "off the charts." It all seemed kind of funny. Then they warned the worst: Normal delivery could kill Tommy, and my wife. The only choice the doctors gave us was the date. The C-section had to happen in March, they said. The last week, just before Easter. In the OR, at what was known then as the Atlantic City Medical Center's mainland division, in Galloway. Just pick the day, we were told. When we sat down to eat what would be our last meal, on March 23, 1998, on the day before his birth, we sort of knew we'd get through this. Or, at least, that's what we …

The lagoons that ran between the Manahawkin bungalows, each showing a metallic shade of grayish brown, were waist-deep in muck. The water had no waves, no wake. Not even a ripple. Come winter, the lagoon water was so solid, so still, it froze like a quarter-mile-long ice cube. In boredom, I threw pennies from my second-story apartment and watched them bounce like balls on the rock-hard surface. Those coins would rap against that ice so hard, they'd clang like tiny bells. All the while, and despite the noise, not a single light would pop on. Not even a T.V. I was in my mid-to-late 20s, and I …

In Lacey, the face of the school district has lost its voice. It lost what once gave it pride, a sense of openness that other districts could envy — even as it has endured, over the past two decades, tragedy as well as the trivial. Now, under Superintendent Sandra Brower, it chooses to stay silent - with Patch, in particular - even on the simplest of matters. Even on the trivial. Reporters and editors, such as Patch Local Editor Elaine Piniat, once could merely walk up to the superintendent, ask a question and get an answer, however short. Now Elaine and others find themselves filling out …

Imagine riding a bike upside down ... with barely a strap to keep you from falling on the street. That's what the Loop-O-Plane felt like, a zippy ride that turned in ovals - and all that kept it running was an old motor with something that looked like a bicycle chain pulling through it. First it was in Point Pleasant Beach, the scariest of all the scary, stitched-together rides at the now defunct Herman's Amusements on the Boardwalk. When Herman's disappeared in 1987, I thought the ride would, too. When I worked at Herman's in the early 1980s, we kept this ride together with practically tape …

Before my eyes was the man who always cut my hair, ready to chop away again, and give me the news about town that no newspaper ever could. Jack Pasola was still clipping away Wednesday morning, after decades of doing this, even if many of his customers are all gray now, including me. Or they just have a few strands left that Pasola, a former Point Beach mayor, nips off with the ends of his scissors and does the best he can to comb over their scalps. He'll spend the time he would have spent chopping off clumps of somebody's thick mop - the time he used to spend when everybody had long hair in …

Sunny skies helped tourists enjoy the 60-degree temperatures on the Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk this Easter weekend. It was also the day of the annual Easter Parade, sponsored by the Point Pleasant Beach Chamber of Commerce. Many were also there for the annual half-off sale on tickets, but they also appreciated the fact that they had a spring-like day at the summer resort. At St. Peter's, St. Martha's and the Point Presbyterian Church, among others, religious observances marked the high holy day.

I once dreamed of being a war journalist, a guy who dodged bombs in Beirut, barely avoiding capture. Or I could have been a Washington D.C. guy, shouting questions over the tired press corps, showing them how much better - or louder - I was than the rest of them. I got a taste of all that, traveling with an Air Force unit during the Afghanistan war in 2001; and, earlier, being among the first to reveal the twisted, molten remains of the World Trade Center that were temporarily stored at a Staten Island landfill, just a month after 9-11. In the end, however, what really mattered to me was what…

Growing up, I wanted to be the greatest at whatever I did, the guy who'd rise above the troubles of my family. I wanted to become the Muhammad Ali, even the Whitney Houston, in my corner of the world.I wanted to be the best runner, the best baseball player, the best surfer, even if I couldn't swim until I was 8. I grew up at the Jersey Shore but, for so many years, I was too afraid to swim in water that went over my head.I wanted to be the best writer, even as my college roommate at Rutgers made fun of it, calling it "a bad imitation of Shakespeare." I wanted to be a musician, even if I didn'…

The voices are getting louder now. They're getting louder than the thunderous waves that crash on the beaches of Manasquan, Long Branch, Point Pleasant and Seaside Heights in the middle of a Nor'easter. They're louder than the voices on that MTV show that co-opted the Jersey Shore name. Seven dead in three years. At least three of them were suicides. From 2008 to 2009, four Manasquan High School students - or recent graduates at the time - were hit and killed by NJ Transit trains. Now Wednesday, when a teenager from Spring Lake Heights died after he was hit by a train. He apparently made no …

The first football player I ever liked was a quarterback who got sacked all the time. Every year, his New York Giant teams lost more than they won. Every game, he got battered, booed-at and berated, tossed-around, tackled and "turfed." Every snap, he was there, ready to give it another try, preparing himself for another heap of abuse. His name was Phil Simms, and guys with 300-pound Herculean bodies mauled his protectors and threw themselves on his blindslide. The QB would lift himself from the rock-hard artificial turf, his shoulder pad popped out of his sleeve, and his helmet slightly askew…

Once they were boys who liked to ride bikes, read books and go to the beach in Seaside Park and elsewhere. Then, so quickly, they became men carrying guns, finding themselves in harm's way. Too soon, they were gone, their lives ended in wars that never seemed to end. At least 12 soldiers from Ocean County have died since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. On Veterans Day, Patch remembers Jersey Shore residents who died in war this year. Here are three of their stories. Sgt. John A. Lyons, Seaside Park, Oct. 26 Berkeley Township Patrolman Richard Breitenbach rose early Thursday and began the trip to …

Some come in, wearing well-pressed jackets and ties, looking like they don't have a worry in the world. They shake my hand and smile. Then they tell their story, their stories of broken families and lost jobs, and frown. Along the way, they may try to force a smile out, and clench their teeth. But they can only fake it for so long. Others wear flannel shirts hanging out of their pants, with deep lines in their faces, showing the wear and tear of their lives. They force a smile, too, but the storyline is the same: failed relationships, layoffs and loss. Everywhere I've talked about my book, "A…

"Who's that back there?" Clarence Clemons bellowed, acting with thinly veiled surprise.Clarence backed up a little to get a "look" behind the curtain. From there emerged the other "big man," the guy with the guitar and the legendary songbook.Like, hey, the crowd didn't know.Clarence Clemons and the Red Bank Rockers at Tradewinds in Sea Bright, June 28, 1993. A packed crowd, all shouting for the man they really came for: "Bruuuuuuuce."I stood in the back with my friend, Tom, feeling a little weird. Why would they do that to Clarence? I felt a little sad for him. Couldn't they shout Clarence's …

We've heard it for years. "We're not connecting with our readers!" "They're not reading us!" "They're only interested in the comics and the baseball standings!" At my old jobs, the editors and reporters tried everything. Focus groups were formed. Town-hall meetings were set up. But all that did was just confirm our suspicions. "There's nothing in there for me" ... "Why did you reduce the comics section?" The only thing that showed any signs of success was this: Getting readers involved themselves. For years, the only outlet the reader had was the "Letters to the Editor" section, if they were …

Laraine Sgroi once put out a quilt at a 9-11 memorial that was signed by various people in attendance. It now hangs under glass in the Brick Municipal Building. Sgroi was doing it for the nearly 3,000 who died in the attacks. But she also was doing it for her 45-year-old ex-husband, Thomas, who worked on the 95th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when it was hit. That quilt once helped bring a divided family together. On Sunday night, the family was united again - this time in spirit. They felt compelled to tell their story, however brief. They reached out to whomever they …

For months, the pile was still smoldering. The signs looking for the missing still hung, even though there was no hope. At home, all we could do was just worry and wait, hoping somebody would emerge from the "pile," and say that they were safe and alive. No one ever came out. No one, not even Brett Bailey, a Brick resident who was a lifeguard turned broker. Lifeguards know something about survival and saving others. But so many like Brett couldn't withstand the planes, the burning fuel, the collapsing towers and the dust that spread through New York City blocks. As a reporter, I rode with …

The on-and-off rain and cloudy skies kept some away early Saturday. But locals and tourists took advantage of the smaller crowds and enjoyed the fare at Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant Beach. Many were there for the annual half-off sale on tickets, but they also appreciated the fact that they were almost always at the head of every line at Jenkinson's rides.