 A stretch of River Road in Fair Haven, seen looking east here, will get upgrades thanks to federal stimulus money. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
How do you get more money from the federal government than you ever dreamed of, or even asked for? Tell ‘em you don’t want it, apparently.
It worked for Fair Haven, which, led by anti-stimulus Republican Mayor and Congressional candidate Mike Halfacre, recently received $886,000 in stimulus funds — nearly double the borough’s original request of $480,000 for its “River Road West Streetscape” plan.
The borough was notified by the Federal Highway Administration in February it was receiving the larger-than-asked for sum, Halfacre says on his blog.
The 12th-district House candidate also defends accepting the money, despite his belief that the $787 billion stimulus package passed by President Obama last year was “pork-laden” and would be “ineffective.”
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 About 200 residents packed into Middletown Town Hall Monday night to hear about the township’s plans for its athletic fields. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Podium pounding. Yelling. Fingerpointing. The only things missing from Monday night’s Township Committee meeting were pitchforks and torches.
To say the least, the residents are getting restless.
About 200 of them turned out to hear how the town intended to go forward with contentious plans to upgrade two athletic areas to artificial turf and add more fields to them in order to accommodate more sports. Many came to voice their concerns, some to give the committee a stern talking to and others just to grandstand.
It wasn’t for naught.
Because of a potential sale of the project’s engineer, CMX Engineering, the committee decided not to move forward just yet in finalizing plans to upgrade fields at Croydon Hall and West Front Street Park.
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 A Middletown man who was roughed-up by a former Red Bank policeman following the KaBoom Fireworks show in 2006 has pocketed a $290,000 settlement check from the town’s insurance carrier.
That’s according to a report on the New Jersey Civil Settlements blog run by an arm of the Libertarian Party.
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March 16, 2010 – 7:42 am
Posted in Crime, Government, Law & Justice, Media |
Tagged abuse, adams, open government advocacy project, police, red bank nj, settlement, wilson
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 Mayor Pasquale Menna listens as Marvin Goldin of Temple Beth Shalom asks the planning board to reject the YMCA zoning request. (Click to enlarge)
Six weeks after a proposal to expand the Community YMCA facility came up one vote short at the Red Bank zoning board, an attempt to get the idea back on track ran into a brick wall at the planning board Monday night.
The outcome left Mayor Pasquale Menna isolated by two boards over which he has appointment control. Seven planning board members voted in favor of a resolution finding the Y plan not to be in conformance with the goals of the borough’s Master Plan. Menna alone voted ‘no’ on the measure.
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March 16, 2010 – 6:18 am
Posted in Government, Land Use & Zoning, Places of Worship, Politics, Real Estate, Sports, Traffic |
Tagged menna, planning, red bank nj, YMCA, zoning
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 Middletown police say they arrested a Bayonne man for cocaine possession Sunday night after responding to a call about a medical emergency.
Kjel Franchi, 32, was arrested at about 8p after police answered a call about a man who was unresponsive and not breathing in a car parked outside the Extended Stay America hotel on Newman Springs Road in the Lincroft section, according to Lieutenant Stephen Dollinger.
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 Shane Bruno outside his shop on West Front Street in March, 2009, prior to its opening.
Shane Bruno, who brought back old-style barbering to a tiny Red Bank shop that had been home to tonsorial artists for nearly a century, was arrested last week for “trashing” the shop, police say.
According to Captain Darren McConnell, Bruno broke into the Old World Shaving Parlor at 4B West Front Street after it’s actual owner and his former girlfriend, Patricia Gilmartin, terminated him on March 6.
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 Crime reports provided by the Red Bank Police Department for the week of March 5 to March 12, 2010. This information appears here unedited.
Criminal Mischief occurring at Wikoff Place on 3-5-10. Victim reported that unknown person(s) threw garbage onto property and damaged a shrub. Ptl. Paul Perez.
Burglary and Criminal Mischief occurring between 3-7-10 and 3-08-10 at business located at West Front St. Owner reported that subject had entered business and trashed everything within the business, such as business fixtures and appliances, counter tops, pictures, appliances, t.v., credit card machine, and cash register. Ptl. Michael Campanella.
Theft occurring at Shrewsbury Avenue on 3-8-10 at approx. 1936 hours. Victim reported that while delivering produce to a café, his truck was parked in the rear of the business. During which time unidentified subject(s) stole a red book bag from the front seat of truck, which contained cash and checks. Ptl. Ashon Lovick.
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 From people of accomplishment to places of interest, we’ve long had lots to be proud of here in and around the greater Red Bank oRBit, and in today’s edition of our satellite site for local culture we’ll update you on the latest from a couple of jewels in the crown.
In an arena that’s crowded with ever more outlandish and obnoxious “food celebrities,” master chef David Burke (left) has remained refreshingly “blarney-free” when it comes to his seriously whimsical approach to fine dining — and on St. Patty’s Day, the Hazlet native and superstar restaurateur hosts the second annual No Blarney Chef Competition at his David Burke Fromagerie in Rumson — an event that sees Burke vying with his own exec chef and one of his mentors in an all-for-fun competition to determine whose kitchen kung fu is king. We’ll talk to Burke himself, about Wednesday’s event as well as his guest turn on the new season of TV’s Top Chef Masters.
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 In the aftermath of the storm, a car parked on Branch Avenue in Little Silver was crushed by a falling tree limb Sunday. (Click to enlarge; photo courtesy of Anthony Trufolo)
Seven people died in weather-related accidents and nearly half a million homes were without power at the peak of the weekend storm that socked New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, the Associated Press reports today.
At the storm’s peak, more than 235,000 customers in New Jersey — many of them at the Jersey Shore — were without power, according to the Asbury Park Press.
With some 100,000 New Jersey homes still without power, Gov. Chris Christie last night declared a state of emergency in New Jersey. The order “allows state police to limit access to impacted areas and order evacuations,” the Press reports.
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