Streetlamps on both ends of a crosswalk at Catherine Street are among dozens along Shrewsbury Avenue awaiting repairs. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Pedestrian safety issues rose to the fore again at the Red Bank borough council’s latest meeting.
As they have often in the past, conditions along Shrewsbury Avenue in particular sparked outrage.
The former Sunoco station on River Road, as seen from Cedar Avenue this week. The site is being used to store materials for an unrelated New Jersey American Water project. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
An ambitious plan to consolidate Fair Haven’s police station and borough hall into a new municipal complex appears to have run into a complication.
The former gas station the town has targeted for the proposed municipal complex has a new owner, who apparently wants to build two dozen townhomes on it.
The council is looking for Green Acres grants to make improvements to Riverside Gardens Park, above, and Bellhaven Natural Area, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Appointments to a new redevelopment agency and grants for improvements to two parks highlight a relatively quiet lineup for the Red Bank council’s semimonthly meeting Wednesday night.
Red Bank Middle School students got an up-close look at 40 career and college opportunities Wednesday.
A rendering of the new Shell station and Dunkin’ shop at Newman Springs Road and Shrewsbury Avenue. (Drawing by Dynamic Engineering PC. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After an 11-week lull, the owner of a Red Bank gas station continued his bid to build a Dunkin’ shop for Parkway-bound commuters Thursday night with a revised plan.
This one shrinks the proposed coffee shop, eliminates interior seating and adds more space for vehicles to use the drive-thru service.
Heavy turnout forced the relocation of the RBR board meeting to the media center, above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Regional students and parents packed a board of ed meeting Wednesday night in a bid to save the ice hockey and golf programs from a budgetary axe.
With a preliminary spending plan calling for a 6.5-percent tax increase, board members defended the cuts as necessary before parents appeared to coalesce around a plan to save the sports through outside fundraisers.
Superintendent Lou Moore at Wednesday’s RBR board meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The union representing teachers at Red Bank Regional accused Superintendent Lou Moore Wednesday night of running the three-town high school district with an “authoritarian” approach and a “general lack of integrity.”
The bombshell accusations were made at a board of ed meeting hours after the Red Bank Regional Education Association’s members “overwhelmingly” cast a no-confidence vote against Moore, said math teacher Sunny Lenhard.
A new overlay zone centered on the western business district would encourage development of low- and moderate-income housing, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven residents packed a hearing on zoning changes written to show “the right gestures” toward providing 370 new homes for low- and moderate-income earners Tuesday night.
But the planning board board’s determination to immediately vote on a complex proposal it had just unveiled irked many who sat through the three-hour session as much as the substance of the changes.
Crime and arrest reports, unedited, as provided by the Shrewsbury Police Department for the period of March 9 to March 15, 2019. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post
CRIMES
Report of Theft in the area of Dorchester Way on 3/9/19. Victim reports unknown subject(s) removed property. Ptl. Derek Myers investigating.
A schematic of the proposed structure with the underground vehicle storage racks visible. (Drawing by Bob Van Remoortel. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed office building that would transform a prominent corner of Red Bank’s Washington Street Historic District won planning board approval Monday night.
The project comes with a first for the town: a valet-operated parking system that can store up to 92 cars in underground racks.
The Monmouth Conservatory of Music’s new home, at 65 Chestnut Street, features a giant mural on the facade. Below, violin teacher Bettina Forbes in the new building. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Having completed its absorption of the Monmouth Conservatory of Music, the Count Basie Center for the Arts gave the classical-music school its own home in Red Bank Monday.
The Carvel store on Prospect Avenue would be the first in the chain to drop plastic straws and cups, says owner Jessica Newman. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With a recycling problem taking hold across America, Little Silver appears set to become the first town on the Greater Red Bank Green to ban plastic straws and store bags.
An ordinance introduced last week has the reluctant support of local retailers, borough officials say.
A sure sign that spring is nigh: Strollo’s Lighthouse in Red Bank opened Friday for another season of serving Italian ice and other frozen treats. A good time to get in line might be 5:58 p.m. Wednesday, the official start of spring.
Meantime, the Greater Red Bank Green is in for some mild weather, according to the National Weather Service. Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.) Read More
Korean war vet George Weiss of Sea Bright at Ani Art Academy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Returning home after a year’s service in Vietnam, Jim Black remembers landing on American soil after midnight. There was no welcoming committee, no formal expression of gratitude. U.S. authorities made sure the repatriations took place under cover of darkness, in part to shield soldiers from war protesters, he said.
It left Black and others other veterans feeling slighted, he said. It wasn’t that he and his fellow soldiers wanted a parade, but “just don’t hate me,” he said, choking up a bit.
That’s why a free art school for military veterans in Red Bank means so much to him: it makes him and other vets feel “welcomed” at last, he told redbankgreen Friday.
Business Administrator Ziad Shehady, left, chatting with borough resident Stephen Hecht last May. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s elected officials closed the books Wednesday night on a harassment complaint filed against borough Business Administrator Ziad Shehady.
But the public may never know the details of the case, or the recommendations that followed an investigation.
Crime and arrest reports, unedited, as provided by the Shrewsbury Police Department for the period of March 2 to March 8, 2019. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post
CRIMES
Report of Theft in the area of Obre Place on 3/2/19. Victim reports unknown subject(s) removed property. Ptl. Daniel DeCristofaro investigating.
Rick Brandt on the scene of a June, 2017 condo fire in Little Silver. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Republican candidate for mayor in Little Silver is in hot water with the volunteer fire department in which he’s a member.
Rick Brandt, who’s challenging incumbent Mayor Bob Neff in the GOP primary, is under suspension by the department for improper use of imagery, redbankgreen has learned.
The scaffolding came down Tuesday, revealing the facade of a brand-new building in downtown Red Bank.
What’s Going On Here? Read on for the answer. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank teacher Jonelle Melton was slain in her Netpune City apartment in 2009.
By JOHN T. WARD
Almost a decade after the death of Red Bank Middle School teacher Jonelle Melton, three men were found guilty Tuesday of her vicious torture and murder.
A jury in Freehold found the trio guilty of all charges in the case, according to a Twitter announcement early Tuesday afternoon from the office of Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.
The driver and occupants, if any, of car that caught fire while being driven on Maple Avenue in Red Bank escaped without injury shortly after midnight Tuesday. The vehicle, a Mercedes, was destroyed. Further details weren’t immediately available. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Business Administrator Ziad Shehady in December, above. Below, the council plans to advance plans for the redevelopment of the former VNA headquarters at 176 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A report on a claim of workplace discrimination and a step toward the building of what could become one of Red Bank’s largest residential projects are on the borough council’s agenda for Wednesday night.
A young owl found cowering against a storefront in the Grove at Shrewsbury was headed to an animal hospital for treatment Friday morning.
The Dunkin’ shop would occupy space alongside a new breezeway in the Acme shopping center. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The spillover crowd that was treated to an hour of arcane legal arguments over a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts in Fair Haven last month may soon get a free refill.
Lawyers for two objectors have filed appeals over whether the planning board has jurisdiction to hear the coffee shop’s application, leading to a detour in the case, redbankgreen has confirmed.
The plan calls for a new parking area on the current site of tennis courts, shown at upper left, and a new entry plaza, at lower left. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Marine Park would lose its clay tennis courts to a parking lot in exchange for new green space under a concept plan informally adopted by the council Wednesday night.
When is recycling picked up again? How do we get rid of that old sofa in the basement?
Answers to these and similar questions are available to Red Bank residents in the form of a new bulletin from the Department of Public Works. It covers everything from Christmas tree to hazardous waste disposal, including brush and trash pickup schedules for 2019.
Downloadable and printable versions in English and Spanish are available online. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)