Those of you who live in other areas of the United States outside of the East Coast may not be aware of the buzz currently surrounding the title holder of the Miss New Jersey crown. You may have seen the name Amy Polumbo once or twice, but you didn’t know who she was or why her name was important. This article is to give you a brief synopsis of the current situation and to let you know who this person is in the news.

Amy Polumbo is the current Miss New Jersey, for those of you who haven’t seen the news. Apparently, Amy had a Facebook profile on which she had posted some photos of herself and her friends of hers. Facebook is a social networking website on the World Wide Web that is similar to MySpace. Facebook gets its name from the facebook papers representing members of the campus community that colleges and high schools give out to incoming students, faculty, and staff. At one point, Facebook was restricted to members with a college or university email address, but has since been open to any email address.

A person with blackmail and possibly extortion on their mind allegedly sent two packages containing letters and pictures in an attempt to get the Howell, New Jersey native to relinquish her crown. The photos are allegedly of Miss Polumbo drinking while she was underage and kissing her boyfriend. According to legal sources, it’s not the shots that are being blackmailed, but the subtitles listed below them. The shots were posted to a private section of the Internet photo-sharing site; a place that only friends and family are allowed to access. Amy’s attorney, Anthony R. Caruso, says the images appear to have been doctored. The source of the blackmail is believed to be someone close to Amy.

Amy Polumbo’s aunt, Cathy Capper, said after a news conference that the images in question were not in the least revealing. In fact, she said, her niece appeared less clad during the swimsuit finale at the Miss New Jersey pageant, where she won her title. The blackmailer is alleged to have nude photographs of Miss Polumbo.

First runner-up for the New Jersey title, Ronica Licciardello, said she had not heard of the scandal. “I hope this situation is resolved in the best possible way,” she said when the Associated Press broke the news. If Miss Polumbo were to step down for any reason, Licciardello would become the new Miss New Jersey.