RED BANK: PROMWEAR GIVEAWAY
Olivia Diana of Marlboro High School, above, and Jack Geary of Ocean Township High were among those taking advantage of a promwear givewaway Monday at the Woman’s Club of Red Bank.
RED BANK: PETER NOBLE DIES
Former Red Bank Board of Education President Peter Noble died Tuesday night. He was 68 years old, said Mayor Pasquale Menna.
“We lost one of the best last night,” Menna said at the council’s semimonthly meeting Wednesday evening.
RED BANK: STUDENTS PROBE CAREER OPTIONS
Red Bank Middle School students got an up-close look at 40 career and college opportunities Wednesday.
LITTLE SILVER: SPORTS CUTS SPARK OUTRAGE
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.
LITTLE SIVER: RBR TEACHERS BLAST MOORE
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.
RED BANK: CONSERVATORY AT HOME AT LAST
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.
RED BANK: A SUPERLATIVE COUNCIL SESSION
Red Bank Primary School students, reprising a recent performance at the borough Senior Citizens’ Center, regaled the audience at Wednesday night’s council meeting with four songs, including ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” from the Disney musical ‘Mary Poppins.’
RED BANK: GIVING PLAY-BY-PLAY A TRY
Would-be sports announcers listen to Monmouth U Eddy Occhipinti, below, in a Parks & Rec class at the borough library last week.
[Red Bank Parks & Rec press release]
Thirteen Red Bank youngsters with dreams of a future in sports broadcasting participated last week in ‘Sports Broadcasting,’ the first part of a two-week workshop produced by the Red Bank Department of Parks and Recreation.
LITTLE SILVER: A MUSE FOR ALL AGES
Liz Evanko Buchanan in the home of her new business, Muse Art Studio. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
In a light-filled space above a pizzeria at the heart of Little Silver, a borough woman has found the answer to her entrepreneurial yearnings.
RUMSON: CLUB OFFICER CHARGED WITH THEFT
The former head of the Rumson-Fair Haven Touchdown Club has been charged with stealing more than $25,ooo from the club, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced Thursday.
RED BANK: CHARTER SCHOOL HEAD TO RETIRE
Charter school Principal and Superintendent Meredith Pennotti in 2016. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Meredith Pennotti, who guided the Red Bank Charter School through two often fraught decades, plans to retire in June, the school announced earlier this week.
RED BANK: FRESH FASHION ON THE RUNWAY
Putting a bow on a three-week ‘Fifth Avenue Fashion’ course offered by Red Bank’s Parks & Rec department, 10 young designers showed off their creations at a red-runway fashion show at the Senior Citizens’ Center Tuesday night.
RED BANK: TODDLER SCORES AT CEREMONY
Derek Castro’s toddler brother just couldn’t wait to congratulate him and the rest of the Red Bank Middle School boys soccer team, dashing into Derek’s arms from the audience as they were honored by the council for their third consecutive Shore Athletic League championship Wednesday night . (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: STUDENTS RETHINK MONMOUTH ST.
Curtis McDaniel discussing the concept plan he co-created, showing an eastward view along Monmouth Street. Below, developer Todd Herman comments on a student pitch. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Assignment: come up with new design concepts to enliven the stretch of Monmouth Street between the train station and borough hall in Red Bank.
The response: lots of new apartments, rooftop bars, hidden parking decks, pockets of greenery and even an amphitheater across the street from the Count Basie Center for the Performing Arts.
RED BANK REGIONAL: REFERENDUM PASSES
Referendum supporters cheer the results at the RBR board of ed office Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Voters in three towns gave overwhelming support Tuesday to a referendum on $17.3 million worth of capital improvements to Red Bank Regional High School.
RED BANK REGIONAL: $17.3M PLAN ON BALLOT
The referendum includes $2.3 million for the installation of artificial turf and other improvements at the RBR football field. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Voters in Little Silver, Red Bank and Shrewsbury will decide a referendum on $17.3 million worth of capital improvements to Red Bank Regional High School Tuesday.
RED BANK: H2O REFILL STATION INSTALLED
What’s that’s strange object that cropped up recently in Red Bank’s Johnny Jazz Park?
redbankgreen’s What’s Going On Here? has the answer.
RED BANK: KNIGHTS DELIVER COATS FOR KIDS
Tom Wieczerzak with two of the 50 coats delivered to the primary school Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Primary School nurse Cathy Reardon sees it every winter year, she said: students in threadbare, hand-me-down coats, sometimes a couple of sizes too small.
Beginning immediately, though, those kids will be getting new winter coats for free, thanks to the efforts of the borough-based Knights of Columbus council #525.
FAIR HAVEN: BOY ON BIKE STRUCK BY VEHICLE
The accident occurred on Hance Road near Forman Street, just a few blocks north of the Knollwood School, according to a passerby. (Image from Google Maps. Click to enlarge.)
A Fair Haven child on a bicycle suffered “significant” but non-life-threatening injuries when struck by a vehicle shortly after dismissal from school Thursday, officials said.
The unidentified nine-year-old boy, a student at the Knollwood School on Hance Road, appeared to have been hit by a van that remained at the scene of crash, on Hance near Forman Street, a passerby told redbankgreen.
RED BANK: GOP QUESTIONS YASSIN’S RISE
Hazim Yassin, with running mate Kate Triggiano, at the West Side Community Group candidates’ forum Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
One day after a low-friction debate, Red Bank Republicans went on the attack against a Democratic opponent Wednesday.
The GOP, chaired by council candidate Michael Clancy, posted on Facebook a press release titled “Who is Hazim Yassin?” questioning Yassin’s rapid ascent within the local Democratic party and accusing him of “fraud” on either investors or voters.
Yassin dismissed the attack, telling redbankgreen it was “littered with fabrications.”
RBR: REFERENDUM INFO PUSH LAUNCHED
Red Bank Regional would get 10 new classrooms, a new roof, a turf field and other upgrades under the $17.3 million proposal. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank Regional High board of ed kicked off an information campaign Wednesday night with a dire message: if a proposed $17.3 million capital plan fails at the ballot box in December, taxpayers in three towns may be in for a tax shock. Read More
RBR: CHEERLEADER PUSHUPS AT ISSUE
Red Bank Regional cheerleaders in an undate photo on the school website. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
In the wake of a complaint, Red Bank Regional High has temporarily halted cheerleader pushups after every score by the football team, redbankgreen has learned.
RBR, LOCAL DISTRICT TO HOST FORUMS
Red Bank Regional needs a new roof and more classroom space, officials say. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Regional High and the Red Bank school district each plan to host future-oriented public information sessions in coming days.
For RBR, the focus is a $17.9 million capital plan up for approval by voters in the sending towns of Red Bank, Little Silver and Shrewsbury.
For Red Bank, it’s about a strategic plan to make the two-school district “best in America.”
RED BANK: SPORTS SURGE BOOSTS ACADEMICS
Taniaya Morris scoring this season for the Lady Rockets. (Photo by Mark Costa. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Coming off what Superintendent Jared Rumage called “the most successful year ever in the history of Red Bank Middle School sports,” district officials have also harvested some gold about the relationship of athletics and academics, they said recently.