CASEYS LOSE, DAWGS & BUCS POST WINS

With the clock ticking down, Red Bank Catholic quarterback Eddie Hahn drove the Caseys to within a few yards of a game-tying score, but came up short as Ocean Township stunned RBC with a 42-35 win at Count Basie Fields in Red Bank Friday night. The video cameras of Shore Sports Zone caught all the action as 2014 state champion RBC dropped to 6-2 on the season and Ocean improved to 6-1.

Also on video on our Sports page: Rumson-Fair Haven’s 21-20 squeaker at Raritan (above right) and undefeated (not a typo!) Red Bank Regional’s 37-6 homefield rout of Holmdel, below. (Video courtesy of Shore Sports Zone)

October 31, 2015 - 9:43 am | Comments ()

OCEAN CLOCKS RBC; DAWGS & BUCS POST WINS

In a football game with nail-biting drama down to the last tick of the clock, Ocean Township stunned Red Bank Catholic with a 42-35 win at Count Basie Fields in Red Bank Friday night. The video cameras of Shore Sports Zone caught all the action as 2014 state champion Caseys dropped to 6-2 on the season and Ocean improved to 6-1.

Also on this reel: Rumson-Fair Haven’s 21-20 squeaker at Raritan and undefeated (not a typo!) Red Bank Regional’s 37-6 homefield rout of Holmdel. (Video courtesy of Shore Sports Zone)

October 31, 2015 - 9:18 am | Comments ()

WHAT’S FOR LUNCH? A 10TH AVE. BURRITO

The burrito comes with how-to-eat directions. Below, the chips and salsa dip. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

By SUSAN ERICSON

From Broad Street to Bridge Avenue, burritos have become a ubiquitous menu staple in Red Bank. Interpretations of the Mexican-style tortilla-wrapped meal are becoming increasingly competitive, with hungry fans reaping the rewards.

Jumping into the scrimmage is the much-anticipated 10th Ave. Burrito Company, open since August on West Front Street. PieHole popped by for lunch this week.
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October 30, 2015 - 10:42 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: BASIE WHETS THE ‘APPETITE’

Celeb chef Jacques Pépin, above, gets things cooking at the Basie this afternoon. (Photo by Christian Ceppas)

Continuing with the ever-eclectic menu of entertainments that has distinguished and defined its audience-pleasing mission, the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank serves up a new slate of offerings under the “Appetite Chefs” series banner in coming hours and days, starting with a matinee appearance Saturday by the Original Iron Chef himself and continuing next Wednesday by a beloved master of Italian cuisine.

October 30, 2015 - 6:50 am | Comments ()

RFH GIRLS WIN SCT FIELD HOCKEY TROPHY

One year after the field hockey team of Rumson-Fair Haven ended Shore Regional’s 15-year domination of the Shore Conference Tournament, the two teams faced off again at Holmdel Thursday night — with the same outcome. The Lady Bulldogs posted a 1-0 victory on a low, bouncing shot by Lily Croddick to take the title. Shore Sports Zone has the video highlights. (Video courtesy of Shore Sports Zone.)

October 30, 2015 - 5:40 am | Comments ()

RED BANK MAN CHARGED WITH SEX ASSAULT

AUTHORITIES_RB2 A Red Bank man was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in his home, according to a borough police report.

Jaime Mellado-Luna, 23, of Chapin Avenue, was taken into custody Wednesday on an arrest warrant, according to the report.

October 29, 2015 - 6:04 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: AT HOME WITH TOAST & TARRAGON

Amy Russo Harrigan in the newly opened Toast, housed in the former Broadway Diner on Monmouth Street. Below, an ad for the original Palace Diner that appeared in the Red Bank Register in 1945. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

From outside, the neon-and-stainless-steel trimmed building at 45 Monmouth Street in Red Bank still looks like the classic diner it was for most of the past 70 years. The sign over the front door even proclaims “City Diner” under the new name.

But to the chagrin of some hardcore nostalgics, and to the delight others, Toast, which opened earlier this month, is not a mere rebranding of the Broadway Diner, which occupied the railcar-style building for 18 years.

October 29, 2015 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: AREA PLAYWRIGHT ENTERS THE BOX

Shrewbury playwright Evan Krachman debuts a new drama in as The Count Basie Performing Arts Academy is the scene for a Halloween reading of PRESS TO TALK, presented by the Asbury Park-based Black Box collective.

Since taking over the Monmouth Street space formerly occupied by Phoenix Productions, the Count Basie Theatre’s Performing Arts Academy has put the onetime Red Bank WaWa store to multi-tasking use. That includes an arrangement with the Black Box Asbury Park collective that’s seen the “multi-cultural arts incubator” presenting such original theatrical works as the recent Toms River Anthology by Black Box board member (and Middletown High School South teacher) Alexis Kozak.

This Saturday afternoon, and for one Halloween matinee only, the academy hosts the collective in a staged reading of the new drama by a playwright from the Greater Red Bank Green: Press to Talk. by Evan Krachman.

October 29, 2015 - 6:00 am | Comments ()

RBR STUDENT HITS THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Red Bank Regional junior Elijah Nishiura of Red Bank is pictured with Senator Corey Booker at a political event. Elijah is clocking his third election campaign as a student intern, and is working on local and state level campaigns simultaneously this election season.

Press release from Red Bank Regional High School

On November 3 — in this local election year that lacks the fanfare of a presidential or even a gubernatorial race — many Americans will decline to vote. That drives 16-year old Red Bank Regional High School junior Elijah Nishiura wild.

“Issues like college affordability, women’s health services, how we get a job, how we survive, (are) all determined by politics,” says Elijah. “And if you are not informed and vote, you can’t complain about it.”

Elijah is counting the days until he can vote, which will not occur until the 2018 Gubernatorial election (unfortunately, he misses the 2016 Presidential election next year). But until that time, he will contribute in other ways. In fact, he has been preparing for the upcoming November election for months; interning in two separate election campaigns. Two to three times a week after school, he mans the phones in the Asbury Park campaign office defending an incumbent election. On the weekends, he helps set campaign strategy for an insurgent assembly election, walking the neighborhoods with his Monmouth County candidates.

October 29, 2015 - 5:01 am | Comments ()

RUMSON KIDS, SENIORS MIX AND MASK

Costume contest winner Carolyn Ott (center) meets Forrestdale School sixth-graders Sally Wingertzahn (left) and Brennan Stabler (right) during the Rumson Senior Citizen’s Club Halloween Luncheon, held at the First Presbyterian Church on October 26. The event is one of many student/senior activities offered throughout the school year by the club, information on which (including other activities like a holiday Toys For Tots drive and bus trips) is available by contacting the church.

October 29, 2015 - 5:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: A DEAD-ON TRIBUTE

Multi-instrumentalist Marc Muller leads his grateful jam-mates in a Halloweekend edition of Dead On Live, Friday night at the Count Basie — while “The Price Is Right LIVE” summons in November’s sweeps-month with interactive high-energy style.

All who doubt that the Dead walk the earth during the season of the Great Pumpkin should consult the arcane and eldritch works of Professor Marc Muller for the last word on the subject — as the multi-instrumental master (and Monmouth University faculty member) summons the thing known as Dead On Live for a special Halloweekend concert, this Friday at the Count Basie Theatre.

Set to rise at 8 pm, it’s a special double-header installment of the project in which Muller and his ace musician friends explore the history of the Grateful Dead with setlist-intensive scholarship and spirited jamming. Featured on the Mischief Night program will be a “Dead On Live with Strings” set in which members of the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra join the band for orchestrally augmented arrangements of Dead favorites, climaxing with the epic “Terrapin Station” in its note-for-note entirety.

October 28, 2015 - 12:00 pm | Comments ()

SANDY HOOK: NUDISTS GET MORE SAND

Any Jersey Shore denizen knows that sand migrates, even as its being used to replenish storm-depleted beaches. But the biggest beneficiary of the millions of cubic yards of sand pumped onshore to Monmouth County beaches in the past two decades turns out to be New Jersey’s only nude beach, according to NJ.com reporter Brian Donohue.

In his latest video post, Donohue informs us replenishment sand has drifted north to clothing-optional Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook, which has expanded by more than 500 feet over the past two decades and “continues to grow and grow and grow.”

So “even if all that beach replenishment doesn’t offer much long term protection against storms and rising sea levels,” says Donohue, “it certainly makes it easier for timid New Jerseyans to find some space to shed their inhibitions.” (Video courtesy of NJ.com)

October 28, 2015 - 9:08 am | Comments ()

LITTLE SILVER: A&P PETERS OUT

The shelves of the Little Silver A&P have grown sparse in recent days as the new owner, Acme Supermarkets, plans to shut down the store Saturday night for several days of sprucing up and reopen it on November 4 as an Acme, according to signage.

The Prospect Avenue location was among 72 A&P stores that changed hands in a bankruptcy sale approved in September. The A&P on Shrewsbury Avenue in Tinton Falls was also included. (Photos by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)

October 28, 2015 - 5:40 am | Comments ()

MIDDLETOWN: DIG DEEP FOR PHOTO SHOW

Images of Deep Cut Gardens, such as Patty Whelan’s AFTER THE RAIN, are welcomed for the County Park System’s annual photo show, going up in January 2016 (with a submission deadline of November 20).

Press release from Monmouth County Park System

Calling all nature photographers: The Monmouth County Park System is looking for entries for its Weather or Not photography exhibit, to be presented in January 2016 at Deep Cut Gardens, Middletown. The exhibit will look at some of the many ways the weather transforms Deep Cut’s gardens and its elements, whether it be the glistening rays of sunshine or the raindrops falling. Professional and amateur photographers 18 years and older are invited to submit images for consideration into the show. The cost to enter is $10 per person; maximum of two entries (acceptance into the show is not guaranteed, and if selected, only one piece will be exhibited in the show). All entries must be submitted on CD with completed entry form and fee by November 20, 2015. Rules and entry form are available here and at the site.

October 28, 2015 - 5:01 am | Comments ()

FREE DOC FILM AT RUMSON-FAIR HAVEN

Press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School

On the evening of Thursday, November 12, the feature-length documentary film Beyond Measure will be given a free, public-invited screening inside the auditorium of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School. The follow-up to the groundbreaking Race to Nowhere: the Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture will be presented at 7 pm, in an event hosted by the RFH School District, and by the Rumson Borough and Fair Haven Borough School Districts.

Admission is free, but seats must be reserved in advance by visiting the RFH web site, and clicking the link on the Home Page.

October 28, 2015 - 5:00 am | Comments ()

R-FH GIRLS ADVANCE TO SCT SOCCER SEMIS

With Samantha Beaudrault providing stellar defense of the net, the Lady Bulldogs of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional held on to win 1-0 at home over Jackson Memorial in the Shore Conference girls soccer quarterfinals Monday night. The ever-ready videocameras of Shore Sports Zone were there. (Video courtesy of Shore Sports Zone.)

October 27, 2015 - 3:25 pm | Comments ()

RUMSON: MUNICIPAL JUDGE BENCHED

Rumson’s municipal court judge has been suspended without pay, the Asbury Park Press reported Tuesday.

Judge Richard B. Thompson, a Middletown attorney who also serves a municipal judge in eight other towns, was suspended Friday from all nine judgeships pending an investigation by New Jersey’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, the Press reported.

October 27, 2015 - 2:59 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: FOODTOWN SCENE OF ASSAULT

An employee of the Red Bank Foodtown wound up in jail after a fist-swinging episode at the store’s customer service desk Saturday afternoon, police said.

Store employee Charles Bennett, 56, of Ambassador Drive, first assaulted a management-level employee and then took on police officers in full view of shoppers, Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.

October 27, 2015 - 9:51 am | Comments ()

ON THE GREEN: FILM TRACKS SANDY RECOVERY

Here’s the trailer to “After Sandy,” a new film made over the past three years by Middetown resident Joe Minnella to document the rebuilding efforts at the Jersey shore in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Minnella and Anthony Jude Setaro of Red Bank, who produced the film, are alumni of Red Bank Catholic High School.

To view the full 100-minute film, click “like” at the “After Sandy” Facebook page and you’ll receive a link to the film page at 8 p.m. on Thursday. The film will be available for viewing until 8 p.m Friday. (Click to enlarge)

October 27, 2015 - 6:54 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: ANDERSON, PONTY PROG ON @BASIE

Yes frontman Jon Anderson, at right, teams with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty for a new project that comes to town on Thursday.

It may be “fall back” time on the daylight-savings clock, but this Thursday promises a breath of “prog spring” in Red Bank as two leading players of the 1970s progressive-rock scene team up at the Count Basie Theatre.

October 27, 2015 - 6:00 am | Comments ()

LITTLE SILVER TEEN GOES GLOBAL IN GHANA

Red Bank Regional junior Julia Nijnens of Little Silver is pictured above amid the many friends she made in a community service trip to Ghana over the summer. Below, the recently selected Global Leadership Adventure Ambassador snuggles two of her new Ghanaian friends.

Press release from Red Bank Regional High School

Ever since she was in third grade, Julia Nijnens wanted to visit Ghana. Her fascination began when the Little Silver resident wrote a class essay on the country, and revisited the same subject for a fifth grade geography project, this time delving into its sanitation problems.

For two and a half weeks this past summer, Julia — now a junior at Red Bank Regional High School — was able to realize her dream, by performing a community service project in Ghana with her brother Jouke through the Global Leadership Adventure program. Julia and Jouke are well seasoned travelers, as their parents, both Dutch nationals, have taken their children to over 30 countries when visiting relatives in Europe each year. Her work, leadership and motivation recently earned her the esteemed honor of GLA Ambassador, and throughout the school year, she will perform various duties to promote global leadership and volunteerism for the organization and mentor future volunteers.

October 27, 2015 - 5:58 am | Comments ()

LITTLE SILVER: SOCCER ON THE BUBBLE

What looked like a shoving match among giant, drunken jellyfish at Sickles Field in Little Silver Sunday afternoon turned out to be a birthday party for a 10-year-old from Rumson whose parents had engaged Jersey Bubble Soccer for the occasion.

Owned by Point Road School phys ed teacher Tim Russoniello and his wife, Jennifer, JBS straps kids — or adults — into large, inflated suits for a couple of hours of nutty, head-over-heels soccer. (Click to enlarge)

October 26, 2015 - 3:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: BASIE PLANS MASSIVE EXPANSION

An architect’s rendering of the expanded Count Basie Theatre includes additions on the east and west sides of the existing structure. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s Vaudeville-era Count Basie Theatre is in for a massive, $20 milion expansion that will turn it into a “creative campus” dedicated to the performing arts in coming years, officials said Monday.

Incorporating adjoining properties acquired in recent years, theater officials plan to “move toward our longtime vision of an entire city block dedicated to the performing arts,” Tom Widener, chairman of the theater’s board of trustees, said in an announcement released Monday morning.
Read More »

October 26, 2015 - 10:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: LANDSLIDE COMING?

From left at top: Democrats Mike Ballard and Mike DuPont face Republicans Mark Taylor and Mike Whelan in the November 3 election. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

Below are the results of redbankgreen’s first, totally unscientific, finger-in-the-wind attempt at election polling: a survey intended for Red Bank voters about the borough council race.

On the November 3 ballot are Mike Ballard and Mike DuPont, Democrats, and Mark Taylor and Mike Whelan, Republicans. (The links take you to their answers to a Q&A earlier this month.)

October 26, 2015 - 9:01 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SPLATTER-ZONE SEATING OPTIONAL

EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL (above) anoints the boards of the Count Basie stage Tuesday.

Arriving just in advance of Halloweekend — and representing the most gloriously gory musical-theater casserole since Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett made mincemeat of the Broadway playbook — Evil Dead: The Musical slips and slides its way onto the stage of the Count Basie Theatre for a one-night stand in Red Bank this week.

October 26, 2015 - 6:38 am | Comments ()