RED BANK: ‘WALKOUT’ HONORS PD RETIREES
Following department custom, colleagues honored two retiring Red Bank police officers with a “walkout” after their final day of work Friday.
RED BANK: HOMEWARES SHOP MOVES RIGHT IN
City Barn/Country Penthouse has opened for business at 19 Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Commercial real estate deals rarely happen as quickly as the one that led to Friday’s opening of a new homewares store in downtown Red Bank.
Read all about here in redbankgreen‘s latest edition of Retail Churn.
FAIR HAVEN: POLICE ACTIVITY
Crime and arrest reports, unedited, as provided by the Fair Haven Police Department for the month of January, 2020. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
1/2/20 Kristen A Wimmer 20, of Little Silver was arrested by S.O. Perkins for possession of CDS. Mrs. Wimmer was processed and released with a court date.
RED BANK: EX-FIRE CHIEF MEGO DIES
One arm still in a cast, John Mego was sworn in as first deputy fire chief in January 2010, three weeks after he was struck by a vehicle while working as a school crossing guard. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Former Red Bank Fire Chief John Mego has died, Mayor Pasquale Menna said Friday morning.
RED BANK: CHARTER SCHOOL TEAM LAUDED
The Red Bank Mayor and Council honored the Red Bank Charter School girls basketball team Wednesday night.
The Red Bank Charter School Girls Basketball team went 4-4 during the conference season, securing the number two seed in the conference. After winning the semi-final game at home, the girls went on the road to face the number one seed. Leading the way on the court was one of our 8th grade captains, scoring a school record 111 points this season.
RED BANK: COUNCIL WRAP
Marjorie Cavalier spoke with Mayor Menna in his office as other constituents waited to do the same before the regular council session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s semimonthly council meeting Wednesday was a quiet affair, no major surprises or deviations from the agenda.
Here’s an overview.
RED BANK: JAZZMAN VISITS FORTUNE CENTER
Gilda Rogers, right, led saxophonist Branford Marsalis on a tour of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center in Red Bank Wednesday afternoon.
RED BANK: PHOTO BOOK AT VISITOR CENTER
A Red Bank man has self-published a book of photos taken around town that’s now available for purchase at the Red Bank Visitor Center.
Allan Bass’ collection, titled ‘Red Bank Living,’ features shots taken from the spring of 2018 through December, 2019.
It’s being sold for $15 at the Red Bank visitor center, located at 140 Broad Street. (Photos by Allan Bass.)
RED BANK: CENSUS HELP AT THE LIBRARY
Ready for the 2020 Census? The Red Bank Public Library can help you respond.
Starting on March 12 through March 20, U.S. households will be asked to respond online or by phone to an invitation issued by the U.S. Census Bureau. This count fulfills a constitution mandate that requires a census of the population be completed every 10 years the results of which establish congressional districts for representation in Congress.
RUMSON: LUNCH BREAKERS BAKE A WINNER
Lunch Break children’s cooking class students Emily and Jack Pearsall with, from left, Oceanic Free Library Board President Carolyn Miller; Cups & Cakes owner Denise Kelleher; and Cups & Cakes pastry chef Maggie Condon.
It wasn’t just the luck o’ the Irish that helped the Lunch Break children’s cooking class take first place in the Oceanic Free Library’s Irish soda bread-making competition.
RED BANK: MAN ADMITS CHILD SEX CRIMES
A Shrewsbury man admitted he sexually assaulted seven juveniles in Red Bank and two other towns over the course of a decade, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said in an announcement Tuesday.
RED BANK: SNACK BAR, SCREENS ON AGENDA
The council won’t renew the lease on the snack stand at Riverside Gardens Park under a measure on Wednesday’s agenda. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After several years as a seasonal commercial operation, the concession stand in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park has proven to be a fiscal dud.
So suggests a proposal to nix an extension of the soon-to-expire lease on the building. That, along with an ordinance tightening up the property maintenance law governing lawns and window screens, is among the items of interest up for consider at for the council’s regular session Wednesday.
Here’s a quick rundown.
LITTLE SILVER: RBR HONORS SCHOLARS
RBR students gathered at the recent awards program, where they were awarded varsity letters for scholarship.
At Red Bank Regional, Varsity Letters are awarded for scholarship as well as athletic achievement.
The Red Bank Regional Board of Education recently honored over 70 students for academic distinction. The largest number of honorees received an RBR Academic Letter, similar to the Varsity Letter given to student-athletes.
FAIR HAVEN: TENANTS HOT OVER TOWN DEAL
The borough plans to buy 623 River Road, outlined in red. The star indicates the firehouse property. (Google Maps image. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Over the objections of business owners and residents, Fair Haven’s council initiated a plan Monday night to buy a River Road site, where it would create a new borough hall and police station.
Even the council’s two newest members, Democrats whose November election signaled a change in the status quo, agreed that the new facilities are “a need, not a want.” But tenants of the target building said the changes would tear at the fabric of the town.
RED BANK: SICKLES, BOOSKERDOO SET DATE
After sitting vacant for decades, the former Red Bank warehouse known as the Anderson Storage Building is beginning to fill up with tenants. And perhaps the two most anticipated are finally set to open for business in April, they say.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
RED BANK: K9 TEAM COMPETES IN PRIMETIME
Patrolman Stan Balmer and Hunter running drills in Marine Park in January. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
One of Red Bank’s two police K9 teams will get a national spotlight this week when it competes in an obstacle-filled challenge on the A&E program ‘America’s Top Dogs.’
RED BANK: FORECAST HAS SPRING IN ITS STEP
Impatiens on West Front Street in Red Bank seemed to signal an early spring last week.
This week’s weather on the Greater Red Bank Green will indeed be more springlike than wintry, with warmish temperatures and drizzles in the forecast, according to the National Weather Service. Check it out below. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: CLASSIC 5K SET FOR JUNE 20
The 2020 Red Bank Classic kicks off at 8 a.m. on June 20 in downtown Red Bank. (John Vitollo)
The third annual Red Bank Classic 5K will return to downtown Red Bank on Saturday, June 20 to raise support for youth development programs at the borough’s Department of Parks and Recreation and Red Bank Family YMCA.
FAIR HAVEN: TOWN IN DEAL FOR OFFICE SITE
The borough plans to buy and raze the office building at 623 River Road, the mayor says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[See clarification below]
By JOHN T. WARD
After getting derailed last year, Fair Haven’s ambitious plan to consolidate borough facilities in new locations are expected to get back on track Monday night.
The town now plans to acquire and demolish the office building at 623 River Road and replace it with a new borough hall and police station, Mayor Ben Lucarelli told redbankgreen Friday morning.
RED BANK: FIREHOUSE GETS MORE TIME
It’s been almost six years since Red Bank sold the former firehouse on White Street to a private developer. More than two years have passed since a start-up brewery announced plans to set up in the space. And yet, the 109-year-old structure remains idle and empty.
What’s Going On Here? You ask, and redbankgreen answers…
RED BANK: HOBBYMASTERS CLOSING
Hobbymasters, a gamers’ paradise for four decades in downtown Red Bank, is calling it quits.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
RED BANK: BELLHAVEN OIL TANK YANKED
A sign alerting the public to an environmental cleanup appeared at Red Bank’s Bellhaven Natural Area a few weeks ago.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
SHREWSBURY: CRIMES AND ARRESTS
Crime and arrest reports, unedited, as provided by the Shrewsbury Police Department for the period of February 1 to February 14, 2020. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
CRIMES
Report of Theft in the area of Trafford Street on 2/2/20. Victim reports sending payment for items never received. Ptl. Derek Myers investigating.
RED BANK: FIRINGS ANGER CHARTER PARENTS
Alison Weiler and Nicole Navarrete, center, speak with well-wishers Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Charter School parents packed a board meeting Tuesday night to protest the firings of two teachers who briefly left a sleeping child behind during a fire drill earlier this month.
RED BANK: FORTUNE SETS ‘BASIE 2020’ SKED
Images of William ‘Count’ Basie on display at the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center last week. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center, built to honor a pioneering African-American journalist with Red Bank ties, plans to spotlight the borough-born musical giant William ‘Count’ Basie through 2020.
The occasion is the 85th anniversary of the formation of the Count Basie Orchestra, which is still touring 36 years after its founder’s death.
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