Offerings

Richard Lathrop zeros in on North Wildwood to show off a new tool that predicts where the water will go as sea level rises. Looking at high tide, sections of marsh now flood. With a foot of sea-level rise, water laps at a few streets. Two feet, and some neighborhoods flood. Three feet, and portions of the evacuation route are awash - all at high water. No wonder he calls the future view of New Jersey, as envisioned by Rutgers University's new sea-level mapping tool, "disturbing.

For consumers, free is usually good. When the freebie might help you avoid a heart attack, that's usually better. Retail grocery store competition is fierce, and Wegmans is trying to get an edge by giving away - yes, free - a generic version of what was the world's best-selling drug, the cholesterol medicine Lipitor. Based in Rochester, N.Y., Wegmans has several stores in the Philadelphia area. Jo Natale, Wegmans' director of media relations, would not say how many new customers the program had generated, but the company decided to extend the offer at least through the end of 2013 after first planning to end it in April.

Paul Barteld isn't sure whether his 7-year-old son will ever ride a roller coaster again. Michael Barteld, of Pine Hill, was aboard the Wild Wonder coaster on Ocean City's boardwalk on Aug. 28 when the car ahead malfunctioned, plummeted backward 40 feet, tore around a sharp corner, and slammed into his car. A mother and daughter, Kimberly Bailey, 39, and Jessica Bailey, 8, of Pomona, N.Y., were thrown from the crashing car and killed. "It was very scary for him," said Paul Barteld, whose son was cut and bruised.

2013 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart: Full of fun - but fun to live with? Price: $34,240 ($28,095 for a base Lancer Ralliart). Marketer's pitch: Knuckles will be whitened (for the even more expensive Lancer Evolution, but it works here, too). Conventional wisdom: Edmunds.com says it "delivers plenty of excitement. " Reality: Are white knuckles enough? First impressions: I've always said renting a car you plan to buy - or spending time in a close friend's or relative's - is a good idea.

A New Jersey ballot question to allow sports betting at Atlantic City casinos and the state's racetracks passed comfortably Tuesday by a 2-1 ratio. With the question's passage, Republican Gov. Christie is poised to support legislation to make the activity legal in the state, but a federal law must still be overturned. "With this referendum, we have an opportunity that gives the state more solid footing to challenge the federal ban on sports wagering outside of a few select places," Christie said before he voted in favor of Public Question 1. Legislation under consideration in Trenton would prohibit wagering on any college team based in the state or on any collegiate game taking place in New Jersey.

When it comes to credit issues and identity theft, I sometimes feel like what we used to call a broken record. Almost incessantly, I urge readers to check their credit reports by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228. Both will get you to the "central source" mandated by Congress a decade ago for consumers to request free reports from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, the nation's three main credit bureaus. If the reports are clean, I tell readers, there's no need to pay for a credit score - which Congress, alas, did not require the credit bureaus to provide, and did not bar them from pitching via side deals to consumers who request their free reports.

Jazz keeps getting more international, as this review of recent album releases shows. Top players are coming from Japan and even India - via the American diaspora. At the same time, Philadelphia artists continue to evolve. City native Christian McBride, the über bassist of his generation, continues his string of successes with a new release, while a SEPTA manager, Jawanza Kobie, gets into the act, too, with a credible CD and a release party scheduled June 21 at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Accused swindler John Peter Galanis was charged with fraud, conspiracy and business-law violations yesterday in a 105-count indictment alleging he was the mastermind in a series of multimillion-dollar investment scams, including Atlantic City's failed Boardwalk Marketplace. The indictment, returned by a New York state grand jury, accuses Galanis, 44, of being the hidden principal behind a series of fraudulent tax shelter deals, in which investors lost $150 million. The deals included Boardwalk Marketplace, which fell through in 1986 after investors from through the country put about $75 million into nine limited partnerships set up to fund it. Galanis, who remains free on $10 million bail after a hearing yesterday before Judge Harold Rothwax, denied the charges as he left the courtroom.

Some of menswear's hottest trends - shrunken silhouettes, pops of color, and, yes, Justin Bieber hair - have finally landed on the golf course. Although the monochromatic neons (hello Rickie Fowler) or print-on-print combos (fore, Ian Poulter!) are mainly favored by the sport's fashion-forward younger players - Tiger Woods' biggest risk is wearing power red - it should make for a vivid U.S. Open. Right on par with its trendy Main Line backdrop. "For a while there, golf was pretty boring and bland," said Christina Snyder, a California-based golf fashion blogger and stylist for golf players.

Convertibles can have price tags that make the cost of a shopping binge at Tiffany's seem like a short safari to the Dollar Store. The Audi Quattro Spyder 5.2L, for example, starts at $172,800. Even when you opt for a popularly priced drop-top, you are still paying about $5,000 more than you would for its coupe or sedan counterpart. The additional cost is complemented by limited practicality. This is particularly true in the case of the two-seat roadster, but even the four-seater has a rather space-challenged backseat and trunk.