RED BANK: COUNCIL MUM ON BODYCAM FEE

Jun 2, 2023

The borough has been “flooded” with requests for bodycam video of DWI arrests, said the police chief. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council rejected, without comment, a police department request to set fees for providing bodycam videos sought by the public Wednesday night.

Adoption would have helped cops reduce a “flood” of demands from requesters who simply want to monetize footage on social media, said Chief Darren McConnell. More →

June 2, 2023 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: RUMAGE NAMED SUPER OF THE YEAR

May 30, 2023

Superintendent Jared Rumage, second from left, with board members. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Press release by the Red Bank Borough Public Schools Board of Education

The Red Bank Borough Public Schools Board of Education is proud to announce that Dr. Jared J. Rumage, Superintendent of Schools, has been selected as the 2023 Monmouth County Superintendent of the Year.

Annually, superintendents from each of the nearly 60 school districts in Monmouth County nominate a superintendent who embodies the spirit of district leadership. This year, Dr. Rumage was recognized with this distinction by his colleagues during the monthly Monmouth County Superintendents’ Roundtable on Friday, March 24, 2023.

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May 30, 2023 - 6:00 am |

RED BANK: TOUCH-A-TRUCK ROLLS SATURDAY

May 26, 2023

What is it about trucks that make kids lose their minds in delight? Find out Saturday, when the 11th annual Monmouth Day Care Center Touch-a-Truck fundraiser rolls into the parking lot of the Red Bank Middle School.

Steer your way here for details. (redbankgreen archive photos. Click to enlarge.)

May 26, 2023 - 8:16 am |

RED BANK: BASIE AWARDS DRAW PACKED HOUSE

May 25, 2023

A selection from Middletown High School North’s awards-dominating production of Les Miserables, performed onstage at the Count Basie Center Wednesday night.

Press release from the Count Basie Center for the Arts

The 18th annual Basie Awards, honoring excellence and achievement in Monmouth County high school theatre, drew a capacity crowd to  historic Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank Wednesday night.

More →

May 25, 2023 - 3:43 pm |

RED BANK: POT LAW DRAWS FIRE BUT ADVANCES

Mar 31, 2023

A long-vacant gas station at the foot of Cooper’s Bridge was left out of the new law by mistake, proponents said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council advanced a rewrite of the borough pot law Wednesday night, undeterred by cannabis business owners warning of lawsuits.

The proposed changes, which include a ban on marijuana retailing within 1,000 feet of schools, “please no one,” but must be adopted, their lead sponsor told a sharply divided audience at a special legislative session.

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March 31, 2023 - 8:59 am |

RED BANK: SESSION ON CANNABIS LAW SLATED

Mar 27, 2023

A proposed change to Red Bank’s cannabis law would ban sales within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds and public housing, except in one zone, under a draft that’s up for discussion at a special session this week.

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March 27, 2023 - 4:35 pm |

RED BANK: PARKING, EV CHARGING ON AGENDA

Mar 21, 2023

The council is eyeing requirements for electric vehicle charging in new multifamily projects and parking lots. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

On the Red Bank mayor and council’s agenda for Wednesday night: rules requiring electric vehicle chargers at new developments, and a change in the parking law for a stretch of Spring Street.

Not on the agenda: the burning issue of how to rewrite the town’s cannabis law.

More →

March 21, 2023 - 8:30 am |

RED BANK: SMOKE, BUT NO FIRE ‘COMPANY’

Mar 7, 2023

The cannabis shop is slated to replace the China Moon restaurant on North Bridge Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A proposed cannabis store with the “terrible” name of “Red Bank Fire Company” will change its moniker before it opens in coming months, a representative said Monday night.

The business won planning board approval to open a marijuana dispensary in a North Bridge Avenue strip mall after promising to quickly end any confusion with the borough’s volunteer fire department.

More →

March 7, 2023 - 8:00 am |

RED BANK: HOUSING, POT DOMINATE SESSION

Feb 23, 2023

Evergreen Terrace is one of two apartment complexes slated for possible rehabilitation or redevelopment. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank Housing Authority asked the borough council for money to explore possible redevelopment of two subsidized apartment complexes Wednesday night.

At its second three-plus-hour meeting in three days, the governing body also heard more testimony for and against a possible overhaul of the zoning law governing cannabis businesses.

More →

February 23, 2023 - 8:40 am |

RED BANK: POT LAW OVERHAUL PROPOSED

Feb 21, 2023

Cannabis proponent Andy Zeitlin testifying at the special session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Expecting to hear about proposed tweaks to Red Bank’s pot law, attendees at a special council session Monday night instead learned that it may be completely rewritten to make it more restrictive.

Councilwoman Angela Mirandi fiercely defended the proposed changes, calling the original 2021 ordinance “reckless.”

More →

February 21, 2023 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: CANNABIS SITINGS ON AGENDA

Feb 15, 2023

The Red Bank council has scheduled a special session next week to consider easing limits on cannabis shop sitings. 

More →

February 15, 2023 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: DISTRICT TEACHERS HONORED

Jan 3, 2023

Press release from Red Bank Borough Schools Superintendent Jared Rumage

The Red Bank Borough Public Schools are a proud participant of the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) Governor’s Educator of the Year Program. Each year, the NJDOE recognizes Teachers and Educational Services Professionals throughout the State and honors educators based on the following criteria.

More →

January 3, 2023 - 6:30 am |

RED BANK: EX-COP TO BECOME SCHOOL SRO

Dec 19, 2022

Joey Fields at a ceremony marking his promotion to police sergeant in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A retired Red Bank police officer who’s a product of borough schools will be returning to work as a school resource officer, following action by the council last week.

In other RBPD news, the ranks of retired officers is slated to grow by two.

More →

December 19, 2022 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: SOCCER TEAMS HONORED

Dec 15, 2022

Members of two Red Bank soccer teams, both of which went undefeated in the fall season, were recognized by Mayor Pasquale Menna and the borough council Wednesday night,

Parks and Rec director Oscar Salinas said the boys’ fifth- and sixth-grade team and the seventh-and-eighth-grade coed team won their respective divisions in the Northern Monmouth Soccer Association League. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

December 15, 2022 - 2:00 pm |

LINCROFT: SHEEHAN TAKES BRONZE AT CBA

Dec 7, 2022

Tim Sheehan, at podium, with his brother, George III, and the new statue of their late father.  (Photo by Larry Levanti/CBA. Click to enlarge)

Christian Brothers Academy press release

Over 60 years ago, Dr. George Sheehan Jr. believed in a vision for an all-boys, Catholic preparatory school in Monmouth County.

Together with Peter Fleming and John Henderson, he founded Christian Brothers
Academy in Lincroft, with help from the Brothers of the Christian Schools. A nationally-competitive running program soon followed thanks to Sheehan, and on December 4, his impact on CBA and the running tradition was symbolized with a larger-than-life statue on campus. More →

December 7, 2022 - 6:00 am |

SHREWSBURY: YMCA HOSTS ESSAY CONTEST

Nov 14, 2022

Press release from the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County

Red Bank Regional High School students and their peers across Monmouth County are invited to participate in YMCA of Greater Monmouth County’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King essay contest.

More →

November 14, 2022 - 2:30 pm |

RED BANK REGIONAL TEACHER ARRESTED

Nov 14, 2022

A Red Bank Regional High School teacher has been charged with having a long-term sexual relationship with a former student, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office announced Monday.

More →

November 14, 2022 - 10:03 am |

RED BANK: LYNCH SCHOLARSHIP FUNDED

Oct 28, 2022

Lynch scholar David ‘Louie’ Connolly, center, with Monsignor Joseph Rosie and RBC President Bob Abatemarco. Below, Ann Marie and Dennis Lynch.  (Click to enlarge.)

Press release

Red Bank Catholic (RBC) is honored to announce the endowment of the Dennis P. Lynch ’59 Merit Scholarship. The scholarship has been generously donated by the Lynch Family, in memory of Dennis’s exemplary character and love of his alma mater.

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October 28, 2022 - 12:06 pm |

RED BANK: PUTH TO HEAD $20M BASIE DRIVE

Oct 24, 2022

Charlie Puth with Count Basie Center president and CEO Adam Philipson at the kickoff of Puth’s ‘One Night Only’ tour in Red Bank Sunday night.

Press release

Pop music star Charlie Puth has been named honorary chair of the Count Basie Center for the Arts‘ ‘Forever For Everyone’ endowment campaign, the Red Bank venue announced Sunday.

The aim of the drive is to raise $20 million to fund hundreds of scholarships in perpetuity for students interested in studying the performing arts at the Count Basie Center Academy, the nonprofit organization said in an announcement.

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October 24, 2022 - 5:45 am |

RED BANK: TWO MORE FOUR-WAY STOPS OK’D

Oct 13, 2022

The intersection of Chestnut and Pearl streets may finally get long-discussed four-way stop signs. (2009 photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Two Red Bank intersections may soon be getting four-way stops, if the borough council follows through on plans it greenlighted informally Wednesday night.

More →

October 13, 2022 - 7:57 am |

LITTLE SILVER: ‘SOURCE’ IMPERILED AGAIN

Oct 7, 2022

Two years after avoiding budget cuts that threatened its existence, the school-based youth services program at Red Bank Regional High known as The Source is again facing “devastating” cuts, Superintendent Lou Moore told the school community Thursday.

More →

October 7, 2022 - 9:23 am |

RED BANK: FOR 1,261, IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL

Sep 7, 2022

Teachers and staff welcomed students to the Red Bank Middle School with a clap-in on the first day of the 2022-2023 school year. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Superintendent Jared Rumage is not a fan of summer.

“I hate empty school buildings,” he said outside the middle school Tuesday, as the two-school district welcomed 1,261 students for a new academic year. “They should be like this, filled with kids.”

In an email exchange with redbankgreen last week, Rumage, now in his 10th year at the district’s helm, provided an overview of some key issues.

More →

September 7, 2022 - 6:00 am |

RED BANK: CHARTER ‘CULTURE’ IN SPOTLIGHT

Aug 24, 2022

Head of School Kristen Martello, center, at the charter school trustees’ meeting Tuesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Parents of Red Bank Charter School students pressed for what they contend is an overdue return to a pre-pandemic “culture” Tuesday night.

At the school’s monthly board of trustees meeting, they complained of diminished engagement with parents, canceled events and other changes.

Teachers and staffers, however, defended the leadership of head of school Kristen Martello in the face of unprecedented challenges prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

More →

August 24, 2022 - 10:40 am |

RED BANK: LUNCH BREAK PICNIC DRAWS 500

Aug 24, 2022

Jon Stewart, in blue shirt, at the Lunch Break picnic in Red Bank Saturday. (Photos by Millie Jeter/Lunch Break. Click to enlarge.)

Press release from Lunch Break

More than 500 people came to cheer for the winning softball team at the Lunch Break Annual Community Picnic Softball Classic Tournament & Backpack Giveaway at Count Basie Field in Red Bank Saturday.

Joining Lunch Break for the softball classic was producer, screenwriter and supporter Jon Stewart. Stewart ushered in the beginning of the tournament series by throwing the ceremonial first pitch.

More →

August 24, 2022 - 7:00 am |

RED BANK: BROADWALK GETS ANOTHER MONTH

Aug 19, 2022

With the extension, Broadwalk is now scheduled to continue through October 2. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s council unanimously approved a one-month extension of the Broadwalk plaza Thursday night. But at least three of its members weren’t happy about it.

More →

August 19, 2022 - 7:55 am |