Captain Phil Harris

Ask any of the hundreds of fishermen who ply the waters around southern New Jersey and they’ll tell you straight out. There’s nothing glamorous about fishing. It’s hard, backbreaking work and the sea can turn on you — and end you — at any moment. And most decidedly, fishermen don’t get fame and glory.

But that wasn’t true of Phil Harris, one of the stars of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch, who passed away Tuesday night after suffering a stroke late last month. It was old salts like Captain Phil that kept the show about crab fishing off Alaska popular year after year, because really, the fishing itself never changed much from season to season.

The 53-year-old, blunt-talking, chain-smoking Harris was the epitome of what a crab boat captain should be — a hard taskmaster with a passion for his job who could surprise you once in awhile with the depth of emotion he felt for his life’s work and his two sons who fished along side him (though he’d never let them know it). He also cared profoundly for the safety of his crew and their livelihood. And he was wickedly funny; ready to play a prank on other captains when the challenge was issued.

Viewers of this season of Deadliest Catch will see Harris at the helm of the Cornelia Marie as about half the season was filmed before he fell ill. Though it’s unclear how the show will handle his death (cameras were rolling when he suffered the stroke), it’s no surprise that Harris was fishing when the stroke hit him.

“Of course, he was fishing all the way up to the end — he was such a special guy,” Paul Segal, president of the show’s production company told the Los Angeles Times. “We’re so concerned about the family and the crew right now that we haven’t stopped to think about how we’re going to deal with this. We’ll have to figure it out in the weeks and months ahead.”

Still, tributes to Harris have been rolling in and fans and fishermen everywhere are in mourning, all hoping that wherever Captain Phil is, he’s pulling in full pots on calm seas.

Greate Bay Country Club

The Greate Bay Country Club golf course in Somers Point has achieved status as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf courses, an Audubon International program.
Kenneth Thomspon, Greate Bay’s course superintendent, has led the six-year effort to obtain sanctuary status on this course and is being recognized for Environmental Stewardship by Audubon International. Greate Bay Country Club is only the 27th course in New Jersey and the 794th in the world to receive the honor — an honor designated to just two percent of the golf courses in the world
“All of the members, management and staff are extremely proud of our designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary,” said Greate Bay C.C. president Mark Benevento in a release to the media. “It’s gratifying to see the programs that we have implemented with Audubon International’s support and guidance begin to make many positive impacts on the course and to the environment.”
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When Boardwalk Empire premieres its first episode on HBO, there’s a chance that it may go down in TV history as the most expensive TV Pilot ever. That’s according to a report on E! Online (the website for E! Entertainment television). It seems there’s another report floating out there in cyberspace that the pilot was made for $50 million, which, is like, really a lot of money for a TV episode.
Still E! points out that the show involves Martin Scorsese, Steve Buscemi and Mark Wahlberg (as a producer). Names like that don’t come cheap.
Boardwalk Empire is a semi-fictional depiction of Atlantic City during the prohibition era. It’s scheduled to premiere this fall.
Go here to read the report.

The merchants of the Village Greene in the Historic Towne of Smithville will be collecting items for Haitian earthquake victims on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 23-24.
A tractor trailer, donated by Princeton Van Service, will be set up in the parking lot of the Village Greene, 615 E. Moss Mill Road in Smithville, from 10am-5pm both days. The community is encouraged to drop off donations at this location.
The Village Greene is also looking for volunteers to help in this collection. A list of items needed for donation includes: baby formula (dry/powdered), baby wipes, baby bottles, baby clothes, diapers, toiletries (shampoo, soap, deodorant), toothpaste, hand sanitizer, vitamins, first-aid kits, first-aid supplies, over-the-counter medicine, socks, shoes, lightweight clothing, blankets, mosquito repellent, flashlights, batteries, candles, non-perishable foods.
Volunteers should contact Kelly Coleman at Ireland and Old Lace for further information at 404-4777.

Photo courtesy allamericanpatriots.com

The Atlantic City branch of the NAACP will present the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Day march and church program on Monday, Jan. 18. Numerous community leaders, organizations, youth groups and churches will join forces with the NAACP in the historical 11am march down MLK Boulevard, from the Dr. Martin Luther King School Complex to the Civil Rights Garden located on Pacific Avenue.

Following the ceremony at the Civil Rights Garden, the marchers will proceed to the St. James AME Church, located at the corners of New York and Arctic avenues. A moving service celebrating and honoring the life and legacy of Dr. King is planned. Atlantic City First Ward Councilman G. Bruce Ward will deliver the special address.

Organizations and individuals wishing to participate in the march must assemble at the Martin Luther King School Complex by 10am Monday. The church service starts at noon. NAACP membership applications will also be available.

For more information call 345-6039 or 344-4482.

Teddy Pendergrass

R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass, who died Wednesday at the age of 59, will always hold a special place in Atlantic City history. The Philadelphia native chose the resort (or as he said at the time, “Atlantic City chose me”) to host his first full concerts since the 1982 car accident that left him paralyzed and dimmed his amazing career (his heroic performance at Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985 had been his first appearance on stage after the accident). Pendergrass performed two sold out shows at the Xanadu Theater at the Trump Taj Mahal on Memorial Day weekend in 2001. He would perform again in the city that year and in 2002 and was often seen in the audience of other R&B artists playing the resort through the years. Read more about Pendergrass here.

Donald Trump

As Donald Trump continues his battle with billionaire Carl Icahn over control of the three Trump properties in town, he made an announcement about something he does have control over, his reality TV series Celebrity Apprentice. Trump has announced that the show returns March 14 on NBC. The list of celebrities includes several reality TV veterans (Bret Michaels, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete) as well as baseball great Darryl Strawberry, Cyndi Lauper, American track star Michael Johnson, pro wrestlers Goldberg and Maria Kanellis, comedians Carol Leifer and Sinbad, Olympic gold-medal swimmer Summer Sanders, ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, celebrity chef Curtis Stone and Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebanks.

Rod Blagojevich

Celebrity Apprentice contestants are all competing for a personal charity of their choosing. Trump has predicted that Blagojevich will be the breakout star this season. It’s nice to know that the disgraced former governor has something to do before his trial June 3 for his alleged scheme to auction off Barack Obama’s vacated Illinois senate seat to the highest bidder.

According to  online reports, Donald Trump and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, reached a settlement with a group of creditors they were battling for control of Trump Entertainment Resorts (TER), which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. It was the third time TER was forced to seek bankruptcy protection since Donald Trump began developing casinos in Atlantic City in the early 1980s.

Under the proposed deal, the Trumps will drop a $116 million bid for the casinos they had been making with Beal Bank, the company’s largest secured lender. The reorganization plan will still need to be approved by the bankruptcy court. The group of creditors holds $1.25 billion in unsecured notes.

The Trumps could still come away with a sizable share of TER ownership. A confirmation hearing is scheduled for January, and the Trump Organization — the family’s privately held company — could receive as much as a 10 percent stake in the reorganized company. Additionally, the three Atlantic City casinos comprising TER — the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina — would continue to use the Trump name and the likenesses of Donald and Ivanka in marketing efforts, and Donald Trump would have the right to use his name in gaming operations outside the region that surrounds Atlantic City (or those that do not directly compete with Atlantic City’s casinos).

Soupy Sales, one of the nation’s most beloved comedians who performed extensively in Atlantic City and the southern New Jersey area throughout his career, passed away Thursday, Oct. 22, in a New York City hospital. He was 83 years old.
Born Milton Supman in Franklinton, N.C., on Jan. 28, 1926, Sales began his comedy career doing children’s television programs in the 1950s. His surname was so often mispronounced as “Soupman” that his parents jokingly nicknamed his brothers “Hambone” and “Chickenbone,” and him as “Soupbone,” which was eventually shortened to Soupy. He was probably best known for his long-running kids show Lunch With Soupy Sales, where he originated what would become his calling card — the pie-throwing gag. He later hosted the Soupy Sales Show, which ran for 13 years in cities throughout the country and overseas. From 1968-’75 he was a regular panelist on the syndicated game show What’s My Line? and appeared on several other TV game shows. During the 1980s he hosted his own show on WNBC-AM in New York City. (more…)

A special conference presented by The Stockton Institute for Gaming Management (SIGMA), in association with Spectrum Gaming Group and sponsored by Fox Rothschild, LLP, Attorneys at Law, will look back at 30 years of Atlantic City gaming, as well as prospects for the future. The conference is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 8:30am-12:30pm at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
Casino gaming’s introduction in Atlantic City in 1978 forever changed the face of the region’s economy and the gaming industry nationwide. Among the topics to be examined are economic and public finance impacts, transportation trends, crime, tourism, problem gambling, regulatory and human resource issues and much more. Judge Steven Perskie will be the Keynote Speaker for the conference.
“As Atlantic City faces increased competition and economic challenges, it is extremely useful to examine the full range of impacts that 30 years of legalized gambling has had on our region” said Dr. Israel Posner, SIGMA executive director, in a release to the media. “This event will be of interest to industry insiders, casino employees, elected and civic leaders and everyone else who is interested in the future of the Atlantic City region.
“I am particularly delighted that Judge Perskie, a former state Senator and Assemblyman who was instrumental in bringing casino gaming to Atlantic City, will be the keynote speaker.”
The event is thought to be the first comprehensive and scholarly look at all facets of 30 years of casino gaming in Atlantic City. In addition to Judge Perskie’s address, which frames the context for the event, there will be presentations from Stockton professors, industry analysts and other key stakeholders. Topics will include The Workforce in Atlantic City, Economic Impact of Gaming in Atlantic City, Marketing Atlantic City as a Destination, Atlantic City, the Next Act, and Crime and Transportation Issues