By Carly Q. Romalino

nj.com/south

Property tax rates in 23 of Gloucester Coun-ty’s 24 towns have been struck, with about a third of municipalities seeing a decrease in combined municipal, county, and school taxes.

Woodbury Heights resi-dents stand to see the big-gest break – about a $418 decrease – in property taxes, based on the town’s average assessed home value of $178,473.

The borough was among six towns – including Dept-

ford, East Greenwich, M a n t u a , We s t v i l l e and Wood-bury – that

were re-evaluated through a county pilot program last year.

The new assessments for those towns kicked in this year.

Based on the average assessed home values, tax decreases are in store for Woodbury Heights, East Greenwich ($25), West-ville ($327) and Woodbury ($289).

Woodbury Heights’ decrease, the heftiest in the county, can be attrib-uted to the town’s revalu-ation, according to Bon-nie Longo, the county tax

Tax rates show some get a break

(See TAXES, Page A-5N)

BREAKING NEWS: nj.com/south Storms, High 93, Low 74

Complete Forecast, Page A-2

TODAY’S WEATHERClassified .........EComics ............FCrossword ... C-4Dear Abby .... C-3

Garden .........D-4Horoscope ... C-8Jim Six.........D-1Nation .......... B-9

Obituaries ... B-10Region .........D-1Senior Menu . C-3 Sports .......... B-1

Sudoku ........ A-2Viewpoint ... A-10Wall St. ........D-3World ........... B-9

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POWERING

$1

■ As a member of the House intelligence committee, the congressman travels often

Ten-year-old Saadiq Wicks, CEO and founder of LLLet Me Finish (left), poses with his mother, Kim-berly Garvin, at their home in Voorhees.

Staff Photo by Dan Rogers

Rep. Frank LoBi-ondo recently returned from Afghanistan, a trip that provided new information – most of it classified – on the country.

■ A third of the county’s towns cut levies this year, for a variety of reasons

Lori A. Reaves, DOGeriatrician, Elder Care Specialist

Over a Decade Serving the Home Care Needs of South Jersey’s Medicare and Medicaid Recipients

GLOUCESTER • SALEM • CUMBERLAND • CAMDEN BURLINGTON • ATLANTIC • CAPE MAY • OCEAN COUNTIES

866.DOC.LORI www.vpasj.com3 6 2 . 5 6 7 4

By John Barnanj.com/south

U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo was nowhere to be seen in the aftermath of a late June storm that knocked out power for up to a week at roughly two of every five homes in his sprawl-ing congressional district.

The Republican from Ventnor had “gone dark,” as a staffer put it.

LoBiondo simply was not available – to his wife, constituents or staff.

It’s the sixth time that’s happened in the past 18 months.

And he promises it will happen many more times in the future.

n

LoBiondo was in Afghanistan last month on assignment as a member of the House Permanent Select Com-mittee on Intelligence.

“He does not get a lot of credit for his work,” offered U.S. Rep. Mike

LoBiondo is a man on a mission abroad

(See LOBIONDO, Page A-7N)

By Dan Rogersnj.com/south

VOORHEES TWP. — Last week, 10-year-old Saadiq Wicks stood in front of a room filled with some of Cumberland County’s fin-est at the Bridgeton African American Union’s (BAAU) annual awards banquet.

It was the first time he had ever addressed a large crowd.

Saadiq, who stutters, had

turned down a previous offer to speak about bully-ing at a local church, so his mother, Kimberly Garvin, was surprised when he wrote a speech and took it to his speech therapist to practice.

“We were kind of waiting for him to just say he’s not doing it,” Garvin said. “We didn’t think he was going to.”

Boy’s stuttering is now his cause

(See SAADIQ, Page A-6N)

n Chart of local tax rates. Page A-5N.

2012 SUMMER OLYMPICS

VICTORY

LAP

OLYMPICS COVERAGE STARTS

ON PAGE B-1

Phelps ends Olympic career with one

more gold; Britain bursts onto the track

Above, Michael Phelps holds up a silver trophy after being honored as the most decorated Olympian at the Aquatics Centre on Saturday. At left, Britain’s Jessica Ennis celebrates winning gold follow-ing the 800-meter heptathlon in Olym-pic Stadium.

Associated Press Photos

By Jay Cohen

AP Sports Writer

Five things to know about Saturday, Day 8 of the Lon-don Olympics:n One last splash: Phelps

grabs 22nd medal with U.S. medley relay win.n Britannia you rock! An Olympic

day to remember for the hosts.n Pistorius makes 400 semis in

Olympic debut.n LeBron and Co. pushed in U.S.

hoops win over Lithuania.n Serena Williams gets a Golden

Slam, beats Sharapova in tennis final.

n When it was over, Michael Phelps

hugged his teammates, then headed off the deck for the final time.

Reclaiming the lead with his trademark butterfly stroke, Phelps won the 18th gold of an unparal-leled career when he helped the U.S. win the 4x100-meter medley

(See OLYMPICS, Page A-6N)

BIRDSOFPREYEAGLES FOOTBALL I SPORTS B-1

TEAM LOOKS FOR IMPROVED DEFENSE THIS SEASON

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.NJ.COM/SOUTH AUGUST 5, 2012 1ST YEAR: NO. 48 I COPYRIGHT 2012

AS MUCH AS $607 IN SAVINGS INSIDE

Associated Press Photo

With the weather hotter this summer, more are getting off the beach and going into the water, like this surfer in Manasquan. But that also means more mishaps.

By Rebecca Forand

nj.com/south

Like most South Jersey residents, Raquela Fine headed down to the shore this summer with expecta-tions of a fun day in the sun and surf. But a Wave-Runner accident changed that notion and landed her in the emergency room.

The 16-year-old Pitman resident and Gloucester

County Institute of Tech-nology drama student was riding the personal water-craft in the surf off Sea Isle with a friend in late June when they hit a large wave and were both thrown from the vehicle.

“My whole left side slammed on the WaveRun-ner,” Raquela said. “Thank God, I was wearing a life jacket. I was in the ocean

Heat making spines hot spots for injuries

(See SPINE, Page A-5N)