Patch's Top Stories of 2011: Part One

As 2011 comes to a close, we're looking back on the biggest stories of the year here on Barnegat Patch. There was no shortage of news, and we've broken our retrospective up into three parts.

Here, find our first roundup of summaries of and links. Share your own recollections, and check back with us for the rest of our top stories.

1. Sweet Jenny's burns. The day before Barnegat Patch launched last December, beloved local family restaurant and ice cream parlor . The Route 9 eatery was a favorite with locals and shore visitors for nearly a decade, and while the fire actually came at the tail end of 2010, we're including it in this look back, because the story continued to have an impact on the community for many months. Owner Marty Sprinzen and manager Joe Dringus and the blaze that destroyed it, and in June, Dringus opened a with Sprinzen's blessing.  

2. Christie focuses on Barnegat Bay. One of Gov. Chris Christie's most highly touted achievements in 2011 was a . The Governor signed a suite of bay protection bills into law in January at a press conference right up the road in Waretown, instituting tough fertilizer rules and anti-runoff and soil compaction measures, and, most newsworthy, setting up a plan for the closure of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station ten years earlier than originally scheduled. The administration hailed the laws as groundbreaking, but some conservation groups have criticized Christie's efforts, saying they don't go far enough to protect New Jersey's waters.

3. Little League and Travel Ball Teams' Field Disputes. Sure, it wasn't state or even regional news, but the by was a big deal in Barnegat this year. The local Little League has a long-term lease on the fields, and adjusted its rules this year to say only teams made up of all League-registered players could use the fields, which essentially shut out local travel ball teams. The Little League, which has lost members to the travel teams in recent years, said it was important that they control their liability. Travel team coaches and parents turned to the township for a remedy, and while the question of whether the League had the ability to bar others from playing on the fields it leases remained up in the air, the travel teams .

4. Todd Wolford shooting in Waretown. In March, Barnegat Patch broke the story of the death of Waretown resident Todd A. Wolford, who was responding to Wolford's house after a late-night call from a concerned friend. Police said their investigation revealed Wolford came out of his house pointing a gun at the officers, but Wolford's family has since , saying they violated Wolford's rights and caused his death by not announcing themselves properly.

5. Barnegat A&P closes. In February, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company announced that it was , . The closure affected 42 full-time and 31 part-time unionized store workers, only some of whom were offered positions at other nearby stores, and further limited grocery options for Barnegat residents. The property firm that manages the shopping center was initially optimistic about finding another grocery store to fill the space, but the storefront remains vacant.