By Sara Martino

NEWS Correspondent

Councilwoman Theresa Branella happily presented a proclamation to retired Senior Patrolman Raymond A. McIntyre, Jr. during the Monday, July 21 meeting of the Brooklawn Council.

McIntyre has served the borough for 35 years, and has often been complimented by the residents for his diligence as a police officer and also as a neighbor who not only works in the borough but resides there as well.

\”It is a pleasure to present this to a very familiar face and to one who has come to my aid one time,\” said Branilla, who heads the Police Committee. (Among more dangerous situations he had helped retrieve a cat that was stuck in a hiding place.)

Mayor John Soubasis remarked that this story shows the magnitude of service from one extreme to the next. \”Ray lives in the community and is very observant while on and off patrol,\” he said. The council thanked Ray for his pride in the community and his work as an officer. \”He has always been a gentleman,\” Branilla said.

\”I am honored to receive this award. I have had a few close calls and a tremendous career,\” McIntyre said.

The 2008 Municipal Budget was approved and adopted for over $2.6 million.

\”This is how much it costs to operate the borough business. Due to utility costs, needed equipment and so forth, every year taxes have to go up,\” Soubasis said.

\”We balance our budget, follow state instructions and manage our borough business. We have 18 full time employees. We operate as our own entity and could be a role model to other municipalities comparable to Brooklawn,\” he said.

According to state officials, one of the reasons that Brooklawn has not received any state aid the last few years, is that the borough is run so efficiently,\” Soubasis said.

The average property owner of a home assessed at $88,000 will see an increase of $96 in property taxes. Soubasis said the council diligently went over the budget and the borough will continue to operate with no decrease in services.

In other business, a bond ordinance was approved for the purchase of a used fire truck in the amount of $55,000.

Resident Earl Foster was given direction to meet with a council committee to start the ball rolling for a Town Watch.

\”We can have extra eyes and ears on the street,\” he suggested.

The role of the Town Watch will be to set up deterrents to any possible wrong doing.

A resident complimented the borough for the improvements along Broadway from the Water Works building to the produce stand.

\”We are applying for a grant to further improve the area with benches and sidewalks,\” the mayor said.

 

Source Gloucester City News

Link:– SI.com.

The emotional retirement-turned-unretirement nightmare of the Green Bay Packers icon was seeming headed toward a trade to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Wednesday night. Everyone at Lambeau Field felt strongly the deal was going to get done this week, and with the Bucs. Jets brass even felt that way until late Wednesday night. But when the Bucs failed to counter the Jets\’ significantly better offer — a fourth-round pick that can rise to a third-, second-, or first-, depending on Favre\’s playing time and the Jets\’ playoff fate — the Packers chose New York\’s offer Wednesday at 11:15 p.m.

By Ken MacAdams

Special to the NEWS

The Gloucester City Business Association held its annual fishing trip on the Duke O\’ Fluke June 27, and a good time was had by all.

Those participating included Andrew-Kyle and James Burkhardt, Chad Burke, Zack Cooper, Bob Cordero, James Dillon, Chelsea Gunning, Joe Hamaker, Dave Knowles, Eric, Laino, Sidney Lownes, Mike Means, Demitrius Mejias, Andrew Morgan, Fred Mullen, Trey Murphy, Justin Oehlert, Tom Quinn, Jason-John-Ryan and Samantha Schultz, Sean Ward, Josh Underwood and chaperones George Berglund, Steve Burkhardt, Bill James, Bobby Lee, Ken MacAdams, Dan McGlinsey, Pete Prelas, Mike Sweeny and Lou Underwood, who also provided the transportation.

Bob Bevan could not attend, but he was definitely there in spirit as the 50-passenger vessel got stuck on a sandbar.

A few police officers, a fireman and Big Charles Stackhouse helped save the day by jumping in the cold water pushing the boat into deeper water. The whole time Mayor James was cheering them on, even though he was dry.

As always thanks to all the members of the Gloucester City Business Association who make this event happen.

Winning the grand prize was Chelsea Gunning for the largest fluke. She, along with three guests, won a four hour charter on a 26 foot Donzie, owned and donated by Rick Sterling of Mount Ephraim Dodge.

Congrats to Chelsea and a big thanks to Rick for his donation, GCBA officials said.

 

By Rich Luongo

[email protected] 

There\’s really a lot more to the high price of gas than we\’ve been told. The price is based on speculation, on corporate profit margins, and so on, we\’re led to believe. But have you noticed how prices fluctuate from station-to-station and not by different brands, either? Check out the same brands in different locations and you can see a price difference of about 15 cents a gallon.

For instance I saw a station down the White Horse Pike with regular selling for $3.61 a gallon but that same brand of gas at another station closer to this area was $3.77. What gives? It\’s the same company, same gas, same distributor, same formula but there was a 16 cents difference in price. Why?

Stations in Cherry Hill/Voorhees are still selling regular gasoline close to the $4 mark but once out of that area, the price drops considerably.

Of course it will. Cherry Hill/Voorhees residents are loaded, or so gasoline companies think, so let\’s gouge them for as much as we can. They have money and they\’ll spend it on gas for their SUVs and Hummers, whatever the cost. And, unfortunately, the companies are often right.

But who\’s making these pump prices, the individual dealers (probably not because most of these stations are company-owned) or the corporations themselves? Where there is a lot of competition the prices tend to be relatively lower but in well-to-do areas, even with competition, prices remain high. Again, it\’s an example of the public be damned, we\’ll milk them for as much as we can for as long as we can.

And it works and we, as lemmings, go with the flow and give these multi-billion-dollar corporations anything they want. Don\’t blame the high-price of gas solely on the Arabs…the greedy, profit-hungry oil companies can take much of the blame.

Irony of irony: the State of New Jersey has been urging motorists to drive less and take alternate transportation. It worked. Reportedly motorists in New Jersey drove 10 billion miles less this May than last May and, as a result, the state was shorted $3 million in gasoline taxes. What\’s the old saying: damned if you are and damned if you\’re not…?

And speaking of taxes. We know we pay the state taxes on each gallon we buy. But who imposed that 9/10 of a cent tax on each gallon? You\’re not paying $3.65 a gallon, you\’re paying $3.65 and 9/10, or $3.66 a gallon. Why don\’t they simply round out the price instead of using that inane and antiquated system? Since we\’re already paying taxes on each gallon, what is the purpose of that 9/10 of a cent? And who gets it? Does anybody get it? Or is it just a quaint way of pricing gasoline?

This whole gasoline pricing system is a fiasco. Let\’s do something about it along with dropping the price of gas.

The author is a former editor of the Haddon Herald, a feature editor for The Collingswood Retrospect. He was also adjunct teacher at Camden County College. Presently he is a freelance writer for a number of newspapers in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area.

Related: A Few Thoughts

blogs\”>Technorati

 

Link: Sportfishermen.

The first boat to bring a fish to the scale and the waiting crowds was the Miss Andrea of Cape May, New Jersey. They had a tuna flag flying from the outrigger and a bluefin in the fishbox. Having brought a fish that fell just one pound short of the 109-pound mark set by the Avalon, New Jersey based Risky Business for first place in the tuna category Tuesday. They had high hopes for this new tuna but while it looked to be big enough to challenge that lead, the fish came out to weigh 102 pounds, moving the Miss Andrea into both second and fourth places for tuna.

Simple enough question, the answer is unexplainable even from the most brilliant of minds.

 

The underlying question is…

When did Gloucester City change to Brooklawn?

 

First, let me say my wife and I have lived on the same block of this city forever.

She all her life, and I for 30 years.

The problem I\’m about to explain may only concern a small number of households

but nevertheless has causes me anguish for the better part of 15 years.

 

Somehow, somewhere, some way the U.S.P.S., FedEx, UPS, DHL,

and who knows how many other package delivery services just can\’t seem to locate

Gloucester City anymore.I mean I see their trucks on our streets but they can’t locate me.

 

Be it coincidence that Brooklawn and Gloucester City both have a \”Bergen\” street.

Be it coincidence that there\’s a 300 block in both towns.

The difference being the last four (4) digits of our zip code,

Gloucester City is 1704, Brooklawn is 2704, go figure.

 

Let\’s see, just for starters, we\’ve had tax bills, credit card bills, merchandise, gifts,

magazines, state and federal refund checks, birthday cards, utility bills, food delivery,

and yes even visitors get \”misdirected\” to the other address.

 

I\’ve had to pay more than my fair share of late charges and dispute credit card charges for goods never received.

 

We\’ve seen some of the best stand up comedy routines by Postmasters, Asst. Supervisors, Supervisors, and Customer Service Reps both over the phone and in person.

 

The latest rationalization I\’ve received was that Brooklawn and Gloucester City

share the same zip code and because Brooklawn starts with a \”B\” it\’s first in

the zip code system.

DUH !! Are we not the main Post Office?

 

The second best defense is the \”address software\” reader has a glitch.

The Barcode Scanner says the package belongs in Brooklawn even though

it\’s clearly labeled Gloucester City.

The situation has escalated beyond the point of absurd and into the realm of unreasonable.

 

I try to be a good resident and add the last four (4) digits to the previous five (5)

digits of my zip code on all correspondences to ensure my address is correct and lo and behold the item winds up in Brooklawn or never materialize at all.

 

Even with the correct address on the label in 2 inch bold letters, the item goes missing.It is not properly read by either electronic or human eye all too well.

 

Over the course of say… 15 years, we\’ve gotten to know the occupants of the other address so well we exchange phone numbers and eventually get on a first name basis with them, but it is an apartment building and it\’s tough to keep up with folks in a mobile society.

 

I openly challenge the U.S.P.S. and UPS and FedEx and DHL to try their best to revamp this trifling yet frustrating problem.

But if the past holds true, nothing will happen but finger pointing and ever worsening

customer service for a premium price.

 

Thank You,

Russell Cogill…………Gloucester City