Mary Jo Codey, who is married to Senate President Richard Codey, recently returned from a 10-day stay at the governor's oceanfront retreat on Island Beach State Park, just south of Seaside Heights in Ocean County, writes Bergen County Record columnist Charles Stile. Codey said his "wife negotiated with the governor when I pulled out of the race in '05. She said if he's getting out, can I still use the beach house for a week or two? My wife had enough street smarts." Codey, however, said he did not accompany his wife because a) he had work to do, b) he's an Irishman prone to sunburn and c) he hates when the wind blows the wrong way and the green flies attack.

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Beachwood Beach West in Ocean County has been designated a "Beach Bum" by the National Resources Defense Council, which publishes an annual list of "beach bums" and "beach buddies." The beach violated public health standards 51 percent or more of the time samples were taken.

This year's list is based on the percentage of monitoring samples tested during the 2006 beach season that violated public health standards and practices that buddies use to help protect the public from exposure to beachwater pollution.

This is what NRDC said: "Beachwood Beach West is a small, river beach located in the town of Beachwood. It is a local beach with a short beach season primarily used for shallow water wading. The beach is in a low-lying area and receives storm water discharge from a major state roadway and an aging state-constructed storm drain. Local efforts to protect the beach include vacuuming storm drains prior to the beach season to minimize overflows, hiring a company called Geese Chasers to scare off waterfowl several times a day during the feeding and nesting periods, and using police officers to enforce poopscoop ordinances. Sixty percent of samples taken exceeded bacterial standards."

Here's the NRDC's 2006 "beach buddies," so designated for monitoring beach water quality regularly, violating public health standards less than 10 percent of the time, and taking significant steps to reduce pollution: North Carolina: Kure Beach and Kill Devil Hills Beach; Wisconsin: Sister Bay Beach and North Beach; California: Laguna Beach; Michigan: Grand Haven City Beach and Grand Haven State Park beaches; and Maine: Libby Cove, Mother’s, Middle, Cape Neddick, Short Sands and York Harbor beaches.

The rest of the "beach bums," so designated for violating public health standards 51 percent or more of the time samples were taken: California: Avalon Beach (north of Green Pleasure Pier) (53%) and Venice State Beach (57%); Maryland: Hacks Point (60%) and Bay Country Campground and Beach (56%); and Illinois: Jackson Park Beach (54%).

See a NRDC map and see how clean is your beach.

Video: America's 'Dirtiest' Beaches

Alcohol may bring an end to teen nights at Jenkinson’s nightclub on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach, the Associated Press reports. Owners plan to discuss the problem today.

The club sets aside Tuesday nights for teens to dance and no alcohol is sold. However, dozens of teens have been charged with alcohol-related offenses, including 12 with underage drinking this past Tuesday. They ranged in age from 14 to 17. Authorities believe most are from out of town and use public transportation to get to the town.

A Jenkinson’s spokeswoman told the Asbury Park Press the club might eliminate the program or change the night that it’s held.

How serious is Belmar about cracking down on noise after dark? Just ask Joseph Palermo, who was fined $572 for letting a woman ring the bell on his bicycle, the Asbury Park Press reports.

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Monitoring blogs is the newest tactic in Belmar's long-running effort to keep its notoriously rowdy group rentals under control in one of the Jersey shore's last true party towns, the Associated Press reports.

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Don Wilno, who writes the Watering Hole column in the Asbury Park Press, has selected his favorite shore bars and taverns in a two-parter. He started with places in Monmouth County and wrapped up with watering holes in Ocean County.
Monmouth County | Ocean County

Have your own favorite watering hole at the shore? Share it with us. Leave us a comment.

If you see something that looks like a gun, maybe your best bet is to err on the side of caution and treat it like a gun ... In Ocean City, a teenager found what she thought was a toy gun on an amusement park ride. Turns out, it was the weapon reported missing Wednesday by an off-duty Philly police officer, AP reports today. Full story.

In other news, police plan to crack down on underage beachgoers trying to buy alcohol at the Shore this year with a "Cops to Shops" program that 26 towns have signed on to, according to the AP. And those who are caught face more than just a lecture from mom or dad: Fines start at $500, and the punishment could also affect driving privileges. Read the full story.

Another round of comments about changing the 2 a.m. closing time for bars in Seaside Park could be served up tonight at a meeting of the Borough Council, the Asbury Park Press reported today. At a meeting last week, speakers sent council members a strong message: a midnight bar closing is a bad idea.
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Visitors to the Belmar municipal Web site soon will be able to zoom in on a satellite picture or map of the borough's 320 summer rental homes to a street-level view of the properties, the Asbury Park Press reports. Clicking on a specific address on the Web site, powered by GoogleEarth, will enable visitors to keep tabs on the legal status of rentals designated as "animal houses" in Belmar, according to Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle. The information online will serve not only the interests of permanent residents wary and watchful of summer rowdies, but those seasonal renters with an interest in properties subject to legal entanglements, he said.
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For more 'Animal House' information, go to the Belmar Web site.

Bill Santora, a World War II memorabilia collector from Toms River, made it possible for the National D-Day Museum to present the dog tag of an American soldier killed on Omaha Beach to his family today in Tennessee, the Associated Press reports. Exactly 63 years after that tragic day, the remarkably well-preserved tag was returned to the relatives of Pvt. William Bernice Clark. "I always wondered who it was," said Santora, who handed the dog tag over to the Bedford, Va., museum. "I feel more connected to the soldier, a little connected to family and I think they are going to be happy to have this memento back."
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State environmental officials were investigating Wednesday whether to take action against a sewage plant in Asbury Park after a broken pipe leaked as much as 250,000 gallons of sewage into the ocean, the Associated Press reports. Beaches in four Monmouth County communities remained closed to swimmers today, as county health authorities were awaiting the results of the most recent water quality tests.
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UPDATE: The beaches were reopened Wednesday.
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From Belmar to Cape May, shore towns and organizations will honor the memory of those Americans who have died in military service to our country. A list of services scheduled for Saturday and Monday follows.

Jersey Shore communities have a whole bunch of crazy rules about what you can and can't do on the beach, the Associated Press reports. Did you know you can't draw dirty pictures in the sands of Belmar, or ride a camel on the beach in Wildwood? And keep your ruler ready if your kids are digging in the sand on Long Beach Island.
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