Surveillance cameras didn't show student at time of fall 1/29/08

ATLANTIC CITY — Police said Monday they are still investigating how a 22-year-old student at Richard Stockton College fell to her death from the fourth level of the parking garage at Caesars Atlantic City.

Gina Durham of the Collings Lakes section of Buena Vista Township was returning with friends from a night at The Pier at Caesars, when she fell from the garage early Saturday morning.

Caesars has turned over surveillance tapes to police, but the cameras weren’t pointed in Durham’s direction when she fell, spokeswoman Sgt. Monica McMenamin said.

Buena Vista Township Mayor Chuck Chiarello described Durham as a “very, very nice person” who was active in community affairs.

Durham entered the Miss Buena Vista pageant in 2003, the first time in several years that the contest had been held, Chiarello said Monday. She was second runner-up and accompanied the winner at local events throughout the year.

After her pageant duties ended, Durham joined the township Special Events Committee and helped plan things such as July 4 fireworks, Easter egg hunts and the arrival of Santa Claus for the Christmas holiday, Chiarello said.

“She was somebody who was just full of energy and on the go,” Chiarello said.

Chiarello said he last saw Durham in December, when he was having lunch with co-workers at Applebee’s in Hamilton Township, and she was working there as a waitress. At break time, she joined his group for several minutes and talked about what she was doing at Stockton.

Durham mentioned that she planned to move back to Buena Vista Township and eventually run for public office, Chiarello said.

Staff writer Lynda Cohen contributed to this report.

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Civic pride abounded in woman killed in fall 1/28/08

Gina Durham had plans to run for Township Committee someday. She was 2nd runner up in the Miss Buena Vista Township Pageant in 2003.  She fell from the 4th floor of a parking garage at the Caesars Hotel and Casino ending her young life.

For complete details go to:  www.thedailyjournal.com

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Vigil held for casino fall victim - Stockton's Fina Durham was active in campus life 1/28/08

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - Kelly Schnier was a nervous freshman sitting alone on a bus when she first met Gina Durham.

Durham, a mentor with the Stockton Orientation Activity Retreat, or SOAR, pre-orientation program, took a seat next to Schnier and helped her feel more at ease about her first days at college. Durham continued to keep tabs on her former seatmate over the next year and a half.

"She would always check up on me, ask me how things were going," recalled Schnier, now a 19-year-old sophomore.

Durham, a senior at Stockton, died Saturday morning after apparently falling from the parking garage at Caesars Atlantic City. The 22-year-old Monroe Township native had spent the night out with friends at Game On, a bar and restaurant in The Pier at Caesars Atlantic City. Atlantic City police are investigating but had no new information Sunday night.

Rows of candles flickered on the stoop outside Durham's on-campus apartment Sunday afternoon. More candles surrounded the bulletin board in the middle of the apartment court, where Durham was a resident advisor. Students were invited to write their memories and thoughts of Durham on a poster hanging on the board.

Most students recalled how active Durham was in student life at Stockton. Durham was involved in a host of campus activities, including the Stockton Entertainment Team, SOAR and Circle K. The senior was a constant presence in the hallways.

"I saw her everywhere," Schnier said. "She was always working on stuff for clubs."

Sean Evans, a sophomore from Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, recalls Durham as one of the few friendly faces he would see while working in Stockton's campus pizzeria.

"Most of the people who come in here are drunk and angry," said Evans, 19. "But there's a few people I see that I know are special. They just brighten up everyone's day. (Durham) was one of those people."

The campus was quiet Saturday and Sunday. Many students had gone home to see family after hearing about Durham.

"I went home yesterday for the day," Schnier said. "I just couldn't be around here. There are news vans around and everything. I just didn't want to see it."

Those who remained attended a vigil at Stockton's Lakeside Center, where they shared their memories of Durham. About 50 to 60 students attended.

A note posted on Stockton's Web site says information about services for Durham will be available when the plans are known. The site is: www2.stockton.edu.

Counselors will be available on campus for students who wish to talk to them.

Durham's is the second death of a Stockton student this month. The first was ruled a suicide.

"It's very somber, very quiet around here," Evans said. "You walk past someone and give them a hug, pretty much."

Anyone who may have witnessed what happened to Durham is asked to call the Atlantic City police Detective Bureau at 347-5766.

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College student from Buena Vista dies in fall from AC garage 1/27/08

Gina Durham a resident of Buena Vista and a Richard Stockton College Student died after falling from a parking garage in Atlantic City.

For complete details go to:  www.thedailyjournal.com

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BUENA VISTA: free smoke detectors available to township residents 1/25/08

ABC Channel 6 and Kidde Corporation in a program called "Operation Save a Life" promote fire safety by donating smoke detectors.  FREE Smoke detectors can  be picked up at Town Hall between 9-5 pm Monday thru Friday.

For complete details go to:  www.thedailyjournal.com

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Gypsy moth eradication planned  1/21/08

A section of eastern Collings Lakes will be sprayed for the anticipated gypsy moth outbreak.

For complete details go to:  www.thedailyjournal.com

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BUENA VISTA: Gypsy moths invade Collings Lakes 1/15/08

There is a gypsy moth egg infestation in the eastern portion of Collings Lakes.  The NJ Dept of Agriculture will be doing a planned spray. Residents will be notified.

For complete details go to:  www.thedailyjournal.com

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BUENA VISTA: Tax office considers new ways to take your money  1/15/08

The new Tax Collector Terry Graff is considering taking payments with credit cards and online. He is also looking for new computers.

For complete details go to:  www.thedailyjournal.com

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BUENA VISTA: Tax abatement rule to be tweaked  1/15/08

A typographical mistake is being fixed for granting property tax abatements to commercial and industrial properties.

For complete details go to:  www.thedailyjournal.com

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BUENA VISTA: Township picks company for salt shed work 1/15/08

Muccio Electric of Richland is the winning bidder for the new salt shed and gasoline pump for the township.

For complete details go to:  www.thedailyjournal.com

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Towns hope toll hikes drive more business to local roads  1/10/08

Motorists upset with Gov. Jon S. Corzine's toll-hike proposal have an option: Stop using the toll highways in favor of free state, county and local roads.

But that option has county and local officials worried that those already crowded roads will get worse and that road improvements on which they've spent millions over the years could become obsolete because of sheer traffic volume.

"It's a no-brainer," Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said. "These travelers are most certainly going to be using alternate routes, which will cause more congestion and bottlenecks. It is something that should be considered."

It has - and the result may not be all bad.

Officials in some small communities in southern New Jersey said they might just be able to parley that bump in traffic into a way to rejuvenate downtowns that, in some cases, began to suffer when motorists stopped driving along Main Street, instead taking advantage of the convenience and speed of the Atlantic City Expressway, New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. Those officials contend that while the extra traffic could cause some problems, it might make it easier for them to lure new businesses to their communities and cause more people to stop at local attractions.

While those officials are just beginning to ponder how that might happen, it's clear the idea will get a look.

For instance, officials in Hammonton say motorists heading east to Atlantic City might leave the expressway and pay the smaller toll at the Hammonton exit rather than travel on to pay a larger fare at the expressway's main toll plaza near Route 50. Those motorists would have the choice of continuing on to Atlantic City via the Black Horse Pike, or through Hammonton's downtown business district to get to the White Horse Pike, the site of the town's other major business district.

"We're definitely going to encourage different businesses and people to relocate their business to Hammonton, go off the positives of what this could bring," said Hammonton Mayor John DiDonato. "The positive may far outweigh the negative."

Downtown Tuckerton in Ocean County could see more traffic as motorists stop using the parkway.

Mayor Lee Eggert said his borough could use its ongoing project to spruce up its downtown - by refurbishing sidewalks and buildings - as a way make local restaurants and shops more attractive to those motorists.

"People will patronize those businesses if you have an attractive town," he said.

Even officials in rural Buena Vista Township think more traffic along Route 40 might help develop Richland Village, a roadside collection of shops, eateries and attractions into which the municipality has poured significant resources.

Mayor Chuck Chiarello is even thinking of more regional marketing to include other attractions, such as the shrine to St. Padre Pio in Buena Borough and businesses such as Balic Winery in neighboring Hamilton Township.

"We certainly want people to seek us out," he said. "Anything that helps in some way, we would be more willing to have it."

However, Martin Robins, director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University, said local officials shouldn't be too quick to pin their hopes on travelers - and especially tourists heading to resort destinations - giving up on the convenience of the toll roads, even with the fare hikes.

"They want to get where they are going," he said. "They're time is valuable to them. They're willing to pay a little bit extra."

Corzine on Tuesday proposed raising tolls on the expressway, parkway and turnpike by 50 percent in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022. Tolls would increase every four years after 2022 to reflect inflation. The revenue would help pay off state debt and finance various transportation projects.

Corzine wants the plan in place by March, although it still has to make it through the Legislature.

Officials in southern New Jersey believe the plan will have a growing number of motorists using state roads such as the Black Horse Pike, White Horse Pike and Routes 9, 40, 47, 49, 50 and 55. County and local roads considered shortcuts may also turn into more highly used roads.

State Department of Transportation officials weren't available for comment.

Robins said the motorists most likely to abandon the toll roads are, in southern New Jersey, people who use the toll roads to get to and from work in Atlantic City.

"Those people are going to see a substantial increase in their commuting costs, which just mounts onto the ever-rising price of gasoline," he said.

Eggert apparently doesn't worry about who may stop using the parkway for Route 9 through his borough.

He just thinks it would be ironic that traffic could help his town.

"The parkway coming through led to the decline of Tuckerton," Eggert said.