Lori Hoffman, associate editor at Atlantic City Weekly, and the film critic at the publication, will be joining the Sports Goomba, Greg Maiuro, on WIBG Talk Radio 1020AM,  this Saturday, May 18, 10am-12pm, as the guest co-host.

This will be Hoffman’s second stint as a “Goomba for the Day,” having dropped by April 13 to talk about the new Jackie Robinson bio pic 42 and some of the upcoming summer blockbuster movies.

Hoffman will certainly be discussing the new blockbuster Star Trek: Into Darkness and other movies coming out this summer as well as a few sports topics during her stint on the show. Make sure to tune in and if you want to participate, the number is 609-398-1020.

ATLANTIC CITY — Trump Taj Mahal proudly presents American singer, composer and producer Romeo Santos on Friday and Saturday, April 26-27. Doors open at 8pm at the show starts 9pm.

Santos is the former lead singer of the Bachata group known as Aventura, which performed as a group at the Taj in 2009. By late 2002 the band’s song “Obsesion” was number one in Italy for 16 weeks, offering it the opportunity to travel the world and allowing Santos to become a key figure in popularizing Bachata internationally.

When the group separated Santos embarked on his journey as a solo artist, winning awards in one or more categories at ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors & Publishers) bringing his songs to the top of the Billboard Latin charts. On May 9, 2011, Santos released his first single, “You,” from his solo debut album, Formula, Vol. 1. The song became number one on the Hot Latin Songs list and Tropical Songs charts.

This sensational Latin artist will be performing at the Taj’s Mark G. Etess Arena. Ticket prices range from $45 to $115. Get tickets by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-736-1420 or online at ticketmaster.com

— Christina Rodriguez

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Egg Harbor Township resident Talia Hines, a 10-year-old member of the Central & Southern New Jersey Girl Scout Troop, got an early jump on her future plans of pursuing a career in photo journalism.

Talia was on the scene to capture the aftermath of a fire at the Heathercroft Condominiums in EHT that displaced four families and injured one firefighter in the early morning hours of April 3.

Once the blaze was extinguished and the site deemed under control, Talia used the new camera given to her by her father to capture the two shots below — a scene in which four condominium units were destroyed and 12 others damaged by smoke and water.

The third photo down is a shot Talia took of some of her fellow Girl Scouts, and the one at the bottom is of Talia, taken by her father TJ Hines, a realtor with Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Shore in Northfield.

(Photo by Nick Valinote)

JWOWW’s planned appearance at Dusk at Caesars in Atlantic City, Sat., Feb. 9, has been cancelled due to weather concerns.

There is no word yet if her Dusk appearance will be rescheduled.

PHILADELPHIA — After an ESPN report had University of Oregon head football coach Chip Kelly turning down an offer to coach the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 6, the 49-year-old changed his mind nine days later, announcing earlier today, Jan 15, on espn.go.com and other news sources that he will leave the Ducks to coach the Eagles.

Kelly was 46-7 in four years as Oregon’s head coach, including a 12-1 record in 2012-13 and a win over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Kelly (pictured above) will become the 21st coach in Philadelphia team history, replacing Andy Reid, who was fired on Dec. 31 after a 4-12 season.

Read Lori Hoffman’s Hump Day Report here at Atlantic City Central for more.

What didn‘t happen during Kanye West’s three-night stint at Revel?

On the first night, Friday, Dec. 28, the rap star took to the Atlantic City resort’s Ovation Hall stage in an all-white outfit, performing a 75-minute set, during which he wore a pair of masks that made international headlines. The next morning, Rolling Stone offered: “[Kanye] rocked a couple of bizarre full-head masks – a diamond-encrusted one on his remix of Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’ and … some kind of yeti costume (or a werewolf George Washington).”

During Saturday night’s show, West spoke (read: rant) to the crowd on several subjects, including his sanity (”They’ll try to tell you Kanye’s so crazy, so deranged. … I ain’t crazy, I’m just not satisfied”), the upcoming Grammy Awards ceremony in February (”Don’t expect to see me at the Grammys this year,” he said despite receiving six nominations), Lady Gaga, his women’s fashion line and receiving death threats via Twitter.

What made the Twitter word explode was West’s announcement during his Sunday night show that his girlfriend Kim Kardashian was pregnant.

Kardashian was in the 5,000-plus crowd, along with Kris Jenner and Jay-Z.

As soon as West told the crowd that he and Kardashian are expecting their first child, the crowd went nuts — and the Internet soon did as well.

West told his fans to congratulate his “baby mom” and that the pregnancy was the “most amazing thing.”

Revel hosted West five times in 2012, his only solo U.S. appearances since 2011, according to MTV.

As reported here yesterday, the Atlantic City Alliance has taken out a full-page ad in today’s New York Times to let the world know that the Atlantic City Boardwalk and Atlantic City in general is open — and has been for weeks — for business, following false news reports about the destruction of the oceanfront Boardwalk.

VIDEO: Atlantic City Board-Walk Nov. 11 -- hundreds gather for parade on Atlantic City Boardwalk post Sandy.

The Times also has a piece today about the ACA’s fall marketing campaign (including TV and print ads).

The article notes that ACA “executives decided that a special flight of ads was necessary [to counter the storm myths still out there nearly a month following Sandy] and allocated about $850,000 of what was left unspent from the fall campaign budget. The special campaign, like the regular ‘Do AC’ ads, is being created by Havas Worldwide New York, the agency that the alliance hired in February.

“The special ads are intended to have ‘the clarity of a single message: Atlantic City is open for business,’  said Lee Garfinkel, co-chairman at Havas Worldwide New York and chief creative officer for global brands at Havas Worldwide, part of the Havas Creative division of Havas.

“The special campaign also uses phrases like ‘Our boardwalk still standing strong’ and ‘We welcome you back as the Jersey Shore makes its comeback.’

The television commercial, which began running on Monday, is re-edited from the spots that had been running since April, Mr. Garfinkel said, to be “a little more relaxed” — that is, slowed down somewhat, presenting more sedate images and running less text to read on-screen.

Related: Atlantic City Recovering From Sandy in Many Ways

In Atlantic City and the surrounding areas, it’s well known that the Atlantic City Boardwalk was NOT destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

However, as the Atlantic City Alliance has found out, according to one North Jersey blog:

“A whopping 41 percent of the American public believes the Atlantic City Boardwalk is destroyed, when actually it was just a useless, dilapidated section of planks near the inlet that washed away.”

How is this possible?

According to the blog post, “The Atlantic City Alliance says it will fight back, including with a full-page ad in the New York Times on Wednesday [Nov. 28] – the group’s first ad with a national reach.”

The ACA also has a new TV spot that will air beginning this week in the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Baltimore regions.

“It’s a shame that sloppy and lazy reporting by major outlets created this sort of problem,” the blog post goes on.

What’s even more of a shame is that some people — some of them reporters and editors — either don’t listen, don’t want to hear the truth or a combination of both.

This video alone, filmed five days after Sandy, shows the Atlantic City Boardwalk intact.

So does this one, a “Board-Walk,” attended by hundreds to show the world the historic Boardwalk was not destroyed by Sandy.

So does the pic below:

The Atlantic City Boardwalk after Hurricane Sandy. Despite reports, the Boardwalk is intact. (Photo: Can Do AC blog)

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly.

The Internet and social media have become indispensable tools and a source of information for the majority of Americans, including the newspaper I work for. However, when that news is misleading, the web becomes an unstoppable force of misinformation.

So who started the ball rolling when it comes to the news that Hurricane Sandy destroyed the Atlantic City Boardwalk? It was none other than The Today’s Show’s longtime weatherman Al Roker. Roker is someone the nation trusts without question. As a newsman, the shots of destroyed Boardwalk made for a dramatic background when Roker did reports on the storm.

He didn’t necessarily announce that the entire Boardwalk was destroyed, but he didn’t explain that he was using a backdrop that represented a piece of the Boardwalk that was already condemned and wasn’t near the heart of the Boardwalk along casino row, which sustained little or no damage. That news would have taken the “drama” out of the dramatic footage.

The pictures told the story and turned a news story into a game of Chinese whispers. The idiomatic expression “Chinese whispers” refers to any story or piece of news that has been unreliably communicated by word of mouth among many people, leading to questionable information or a distorted account of the original story.

(more…)

(Photo: Courtesy of Borgata)

Married to Jonas couple Kevin and Danielle Jonas,were joined by family and friends at Fornelletto Cucina and Wine Bar at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa on Saturday, Nov. 17.

Mrs. Jonas surprised her pop-star husband with a decked out celebration for his 25^th birthday, complete with a custom blackjack-themed cake prepared by Borgata’s executive pastry chef, Thaddeus DuBois.

(Photo: Courtesy of Borgata)

The group enjoyed some laughs at Wanda Sykes’ sold-out Music Box performance, met the comedian backstage, then headed to MIXX nightclub where Jermaine Dupri provided the music.
— Casey Harper