Has the Patch abandoned Barnegat?

Is there anyone at the Barnegat-Manahawkin Patch that is actually covering what is going on in Barnegat?  Granted, we’ve seen a bevy of stories regarding the Giles mess, but that reporting was initiated by a source other than the Patch.  And we occasionally get something that has first appeared on the Barnegat Police Department’s Facebook page.  Just in the last month and a half the Patch has failed to report on any number of happenings that I became aware of through other sources.  A young Barnegat woman was killed in a motor vehicle accident in August and there was no report of the tragedy.  The Barnegat Township Committee held its one and only meeting for the month of August and introduced the municipal budget and there was no coverage whatsoever on the Patch.  Town Hall had to close early one afternoon in August as the electricity was out due to a motor vehicle accident, again, not a word about it on the Patch.  Barnegat’s Fire Department held its first 5K run on Saturday, August 31st, and again no coverage of the event on the Patch.  The town’s big Pirate’s Day festivities came and went on September seventh, and other than a one sentence mention in the what’s happening this weekend column, there was no coverage.  The Cox House has undergone some major renovations over the summer, but not a mention on the Patch.  The Township Committee held a meeting on September 16th and again not a single word about it on the Patch.  I’m sure there are other happenings I have not mentioned because I am unaware of them.  I remember when the Patch first started in Barnegat a few years ago the original editor made a point of covering everything going on in town; and if she could not be there, she sent someone else.  There was coverage and information about what transpired at township committee meetings or what was going on with the board of education.  There were always stories and photographs of events in town.  The Patch had become a reliable and informative source for local news and information.   At this point it seems like the Patch has abandoned Barnegat.  It’s disappointing.