You’ve seen the teaser logos for about eight months. Well, the countdown is finally over.

Today, redbankgreen marks its first significant expansion with the launch of Red Bank oRBit, a new website dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the local arts, food, entertainment and amusements sceneS.

What’s driving this move? The wealth of events, eateries, artists, interesting shops and other distractions in the Red Bank area. Trying to fit it all into redbankgreen would overwhelm the general-interest news and features focus here.

So it’s time to start that second site.

Tom Chesek, who’s been covering the culture front for us since late last year, is Red Bank oRBit‘s editor. He’ll share writing duties with redbankgreen co-founder John T. Ward, who’s also the publisher of the new site.

Trish Russoniello, Ward’s wife, redbankgreen co-founder and the force behind ‘s visual presentation, is also oRBit’s “picture person,” and Jim Willis is the Tech Guy.

The site features exhaustive event and restaurant listings in pull-down menus, as well as the kinds of well-written feature stories on events and people that readers are used on seeing on this site. Red Bank oRBit will be updated three times a week: on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The debut issue includes a look at D’jeet, a locavore café and catering business in Middletown; a stem-to-stern rundown of the Clamfest now underway in Highlands; and a best of on what the weekend has to offer eventwise.

Red Bank oRBit also is bucking the Internet trend with an old-fashioned approach to reader comments, mandating the use of full, real names. No pseudonyms are permitted. To post, you’ve first got to register, giving verifiable information. It’s a lot like what newspapers used to do, and still do to some extent, with their letters-to-the-editor. Except comments to oRBit won’t be pre-screened; the authors will, but only to confirm the truthfulness of their registrations.

Please check out the site and let us know what you think by posting a comment here — gold stars for courage to those who use their real name. Clicking on either of the graphics above takes you into oRBit.

Thanks.

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