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1 week ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
Atlantic Basin hurricane season forecasts are becoming more and more a case of wash, rinse and repeat. NOAA, Colorado State University’s meteorologists and the folks from AccuWeather have all predicted a busy, above-average 2025 hurricane season, which officially kicks off on June 1. That’s not exactly surprising, considering a below-average season hasn’t been predicted since 2015.
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1 week ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
The opening night film of the 2025 Lighthouse International Film Festival is “Americana,” a Western!Westerns had their glory days between 1945 to 1965 when the genre comprised roughly a quarter of studio output, and that’s not even including numerous television shows such as “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Have Gun Will Travel,” “Bonanza” and the granddaddy of them all, “Gunsmoke,” which ran from 1955 through 1975.
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1 week ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
Are you a “Svengoolie” fan? Many people have never heard of him. Svengoolie, real name Rich Koz, had been a host of a horror and science fiction television show called “Son of Svengoolie” in Chicago on WFLD from 1979 to 1986. It was canceled by a new owner, Rupert Murdoch, yep, that Rupert Murdoch. It was resurrected in 1994 on another Chicago station, now called “Svengoolie” because Koz had aged. In April, 2011 the show started to broadcast nationally on the MeTV network.
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2 weeks ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
Surflight Theatre’s first musical of its 2025 season will be “Irving Berlin’s Top Hat.”It will be performed at 2 p.m. on May 28 and 29 and June 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12 and 15 and at 8 p.m. on May 29, 30 and 31 and June 3, 12, 13 and and 14. Tickets are $46 for adults and $36 for children younger than 13. They may be purchased online at surflight.org or by phone at 609-492-9477 – press 1. “PLEASE NOTE:” says the Surflight website.
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2 weeks ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
The 2025 Lighthouse International Film Festival has announced its closing film: “American Sweatshop,” a 100-minute drama making its East Coast premiere. It will be screened at 7:15 p.m. on Sunday, June 8 at Beach Haven’s Surflight Theatre. “American Sweatshop” is a mixture of thriller, politics and technology.
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2 weeks ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
A pox on both Republicans and Democrats when it comes to our overwhelming national debt, now rapidly approaching $37 trillion and expected to explode if President Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” is passed by the U.S. House and Senate in the coming days or weeks. For at least the last four decades Republicans have continually pressed for cutting taxes. If GOP politicians didn’t color within those lines, they could expect trouble.
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2 weeks ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
Despite a 32.6% tax increase for the 2025-26 school year, the Little Egg Harbor Board of Education had warned there would still be some staff layoffs. At its May 13 meeting the board eliminated four positions: a media center aide, family partner, custodian and maintenance person. One of them, maintenance worker Jackie Eng, came before the board in the evening’s first public comment period to plead his case. “I wanted to be here tonight to put a name, a face, to the title you see on paper.
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3 weeks ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
Ocean County is making national news in a huge way. Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick began clashing with Ocean County officials in the autumn of 2024. The Ocean County Board of Commissioners was planning on opening a Code Blue warming station in Toms River for the coming winter. When temperatures drop to freezing or below, emergency overnight accommodations are provided by Code Blue shelters. Code Blue programs operate from Nov. 1 through March 31, covering the coldest months of the year.
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3 weeks ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
The band Chicago was self-described as a “rock and roll band with horns.”So it isn’t surprising that a Chicago tribute band would decide to call itself Brass Transit, emphasizing its horns section while also remembering that Chicago was called the Chicago Transit Authority in 1968 and 1969. That band will appear at the Stafford Township Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 22. Tickets are $65 for the front orchestra and $55 for the rear orchestra.
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1 month ago | 
thesandpaper.net | Rick Mellerup
The 17th annual Lighthouse International Film Festival will be held from June 4 through 8, which means it’s time to rally its veritable army of volunteers. A volunteer information meet and greet will be held from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 18 at the Surf City Firehouse, located at 713 Long Beach Blvd. “We are actively seeking volunteers who share a commitment to the LBI community, support the arts, and enjoy working with others,” reads a LIFF press release.
