RED BANK: ‘HOPE FOR HUMANITY’ VIGIL SLATED
Inspired by an interfaith breakfast held at Brookdale College in the spring, members of Red Bank’s Lunch Break community plan to host a “Hope for Humanity” candlelight vigil Thursday, September 21.
RED BANK: POSTMASTER’S POSTS DRAW FIRE
An status update on the Facebook page of postmaster Michael Angelo Ciano, below, showed an assault rifle with the comment, “Anti-muslim vaccinations.” (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s postmaster has attracted the attention of human rights activists over what they call “vile” Facebook posts promoting racism, misogyny and apparent endorsements of violence against liberals and other groups, redbankgreen has learned.
A United States Postal Service spokesman confirmed that the agency is looking into complaints about photos and comments posted by postmaster Michael Angelo Ciano on his personal page.
“Imagine the work environment in that post office for any employees that are other than white men,” one woman wrote.
RED BANK: MARCHERS UNITE AGAINST HATRED
Hundreds gathered at borough hall for a rally before a march and vigil, including Mx Rowan, below, who wore a yarmulke with the Hebrew alphabet. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Answering the racist and anti-Semitic shouts heard last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, about 400 Red Bank-area residents gathered Wednesday night to affirm their belief in love over hate.
“We’re all standing here together united in our humanity,” said Hazim Yassin, of the American Muslim Action Network, at a vigil in Ralph ‘Johnny Jazz’ Park on Shrewsbury Avenue that followed a one-mile march from borough hall. Read More
RED BANK: BECK BLASTS TRUMP
“There are no ‘very fine’ Nazis or members of the KKK,” said state Senator Jen Beck, seen here at the Mayor’s Ball in 2015. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Republican State Senator Jen Beck on Wednesday joined a chorus of lawmakers condemning President Trump for blaming “both sides” in violent clashes between white-supremacist marchers and their opponents in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.
Beck blasted Trump’s comments as “outrageous,” and called on him to retract and apologize for them.
RED BANK: RALLY TARGETS RACISM & TRUMP
Several hundred protesters assembled at Riverside Gardens Park Saturday evening. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Hours after violent clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, about 150 local residents and community leaders gathered in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park for a “unity and peace” demonstration Saturday night.
But unlike a rally held in the West Front Street park one day after the start of the Trump Administration, this one did not avoid mentioning Trump’s name, as several speakers laid responsibility for the day’s outburst of hatred and deadly violence in Virginia on the president.
RED BANK: HUMANISTS TAKE UP ‘FAKE’ NEWS
Rutgers journalism and media studies professor John Pavlik talks about ‘fake’ news and its impact on democracy when he appears as guest speaker at a meeting of Red Bank Humanists Sunday.
RED BANK: AIR RAID SIRENS SILENCED AT LAST
Civil Defense sirens atop a pole on Branch Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
First came the spoken warning of a test, and then, the extended, ear-piercing blare.
During the chilliest part of the Cold War, the weekly tests of the Civil Defense air raid sirens mounted on utility poles across town served as a weekly reminder to Red Bank residents and visitors that the potential for nuclear catastrophe was real, imminent, and that they should be ready for it.
RBR TEENS SWEEP TOP HONORS IN CONTEST
Left to right: Red Bank Regional teacher Federica Proietti Cesaretti is pictured with her award winning RBR World Language Italian students Taylor Adams , Sirenia Tochihuitl, Raymond Soya and Liam Tyler.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Students and teachers at Red Bank Regional High School are always looking for opportunities to improve their skills through competitive engagements. To that end, RBR’s World Language teacher of Italian, Federica Proietti Cesaretti, entered her students in the 2017 competition sponsored by the Italian Teachers Association of New Jersey (ITANJ).
Red Bank Regional competed with with approximately 40 students from eight other high schools, submitting multi-media projects in Italian, tied to the theme of Italy’s response to climate change. When the winners were announced in April. RBR swept all three top awards, taking first, second and third place.
RUMSON: LANGUAGE PANEL THINKS GLOBALLY
Left to right: presenters Mark Jeffers, Gianna Maita, and Sue Finley are pictured at the second annual “World Language in Our Community” panel discussion, hosted at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional.
Press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
On November 28, five distinguished guests participated in the second annual “World Language in Our Community” panel discussion, hosted at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School. This year’s panelists were Sue Finley, Taylor Forry, Mark Jeffers, Gianna Maita, and Greg Thomas.
Student attendance was optional, and – in a repeat of last year — there was a “standing room only” crowd. The panelists shared their career and life experiences as they related to world languages and cultures, and participated in a follow-up question and answer session.
RUMSON: ART FOR HAITI EVENT AT CANVAS
Canvas hosts a return visit by a Haitian artist who’s again raising funds after a natural disaster. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
For the second time in two years, Canvas Studio Art in Rumson will once again host an informal meet and greet with Haitian artist David Thebaud.
Scheduled for Monday afternoon, the event marks a return to the West River Road space for the co-founder of the ELT Art School in Haiti, who last appeared here in 2014 as part of a benefit event for victims of the devastating 2010 earthquake. (As detailed here on redbankgreen, the celebrated painter known as “Tebo” also paid a visit to Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School).
Now, the Caribbean island nation is again reeling from the effects of a natural disaster — Hurricane Matthew. And as Tebo explains, the Haitian people are now more than ever in desperate need of clean water, food and other necessities.
VETERANS DAY CEREMONIES 2016
Servicemen and women will be among the local resident who gather at the monument to war veterans at Monmouth Street and Drummond Place in Red Bank for a Veterans Day commemoration Friday. Click “read more” for town-by-town events on the Green. (Click photos to enlarge)
RED BANK: CYMCA HOSTS TALK ON JERUSALEM
Two representatives from the Jerusalem International YMCA, Raed Abu Leil and Hannah Rendell, visit the CYMCA in Red Bank on November 11 for a special free public discussion.
Press release from The Community YMCA
The current situation in the city of Jerusalem — and the important work of the Jerusalem International YMCA (JIY) towards conflict mitigation — will be the topic of a public-welcome discussion, hosted on Friday, November 11 at The Community YMCA Family Health and Wellness Center in Red Bank.
Scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the facility’s gymnasium, the free presentation will feature two guest speakers with experience and expertise in fostering a better and more peaceful Jerusalem, and who are passionate about the importance of shared positive experiences between Israeli and Palestinian communities.
RUMSON WOMAN SAYS TRUMP ASSAULTED HER
A Rumson woman has accused Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in 1998, according to news reports Thursday.
Karena Virginia, a 45-year-old life coach and yoga guru, claims that she was waiting for a car at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Queens, New York, when Trump, whom she had not met, made comments about her body as he walked by before grabbing her by an arm touching her breast, she said at a press conference in New York, according to NBC News.
RED BANK: FIRST DEBATE DOWN
About two dozen Red Bank residents gathered at Pilgrim Baptist Church Monday night to watch the first 2016 presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton and participate in a discussion afterward.
Did you watch? Did anything you heard change, or reinforce, your thinking about the candidates? Feel free to share your takeaway in a comment. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
RED BANK: WATCH CLINTON & TRUMP DEBATE
Reverend Terrence Porter invites the Red Bank-area community to watch the first 2016 presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton Monday night at Pilgrim Baptist Church.
RED BANK: SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 REMEMBERED
Remembering the dead of the September 11, 2001 attacks on American soil is part of the “vigilance” against future acts of terrorism, Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna said at a commemoration held in Riverside Gardens Park Sunday morning, 15 years after the tragedy.
IN MEMORY: FIFTEEN YEARS LATER
Below are details about local memorial services planned to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
RED BANK: BECK SITS OUT TRUMPFEST
State Senator Jen Beck, seen here with local Republicans in 2015, passed on this week’s Republican National Convention. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Four months after saying Governor Chris Christie should choose between Donald Trump and New Jersey, Republican State Senator Jen Beck of Red Bank is sitting out her party’s national convention this week.
While Christie is in Cleveland carrying water for the prospective GOP nominee, Beck was back home, telling Paul Brubaker of the Backgrounder podcast that she feels “conflicted” about Trump’s ascendance.
MEMORIAL DAY 2016 COMMEMORATIONS
Rumson, above, and Red Bank, below, are among the towns on the Green with traditional Memorial Day events scheduled for Monday. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Memorial Day Commemoration, Monday, 11 a.m., Veterans’ Monument, 51 Monmouth Street, corner of Drummond Place. The featured speaker is U.S. Navy Lieutenant Sean Geary, Command Judge Advocate for Naval Weapons Station Earle and Naval Support Activity Lakehurst.
The event follows a 10 a.m. ceremony hosted by the volunteer fire and first aid squads at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street.
[Update: This event has been relocated to the Elks Lodge #233, at 40 West Front Street. Same time and lineup.]Fair Haven’s Memorial Day Parade will take place on Monday at 9 a.m., beginning at Knollwood School, up Hance Road to River Road, and ending at Memorial Park, River Road.
A ceremony featuring guest speakers and musical selections is to follow.
[UPDATE: The parade has been canceled, and the Memorial Day observances will now take place at the Knollwood School’s all-purpose room at 9 a.m.]LINCROFT: RU JOURNO LANDS OBAMA
President Obama calls on Rutgers Targum editor Dan Corey during College Reporter Day at the White House last Thursday. (Video by the DC bureau of The Record)
A college journalist from Lincroft has landed one of the biggest “gets” in the media world: a sit-down with President Obama.
Dan Corey, a 19-year-sophomore at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and editor-in-chief of the Daily Targum, asked for the interview when the president called on him at a White House event last Thursday, according to a report by NorthJersey.com, the website of the Record of Hackensack.
M’TOWN: TEACHER DUMPED OVER TRUMP VIDEO
In the February 28 edition of his cable show,“Last Week Tonight,” comedian John Oliver urged viewers to “make Donald Drumpf again.”
By JOHN T. WARD
A Middletown High School South history teacher has been forced to resign for showing students a video of comedian John Oliver skewering Republican presidential candidate Donald Drumpf… er, Trump.
According to various news reports, including the New York Post and NJ.com, the forced resignation of Joe Ventre drew protests from supportive students and parents at the school’s board of trustees meeting Wednesday night.
RUMSON: SPECIAL GUEST FROM ISRAEL
Press release from Congregation B’nai Israel
In celebration of Israel Independence Day, Congregation B’nai Israel will host a special guest speaker on the evening of Thursday, May 12. The 7 p.m. event will feature Dr. Avraham Neguise on the topic of “Israel Today: My Story, Our Mission.”
Born in Ethiopia, Dr. Neguise was elected to the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) in 2015, where he continues his mission of championing diversity and education. He will provide a political update on events in Israel and changes in Israeli society.
RED BANK: SANDERS BACKERS BERN TRACKS
Chanting “feel the Bern” and “this is what democracy looks like,” about 300 Bernie Sanders supporters marched in a drizzling ran through downtown Red Bank at noontime Saturday. Among several petitions circulated was one to get the presidential candidate on the New Jersey primary ballot, for which voting is to be held on June 7. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
RED BANK: SANDERS BACKERS PLAN MARCH
The march is slated to proceed on sidewalks from the train station to Riverside Gardens Park via Monmouth and Broad streets. (Map courtesy of Google Maps. Click to enlarge)
Red Bank merchants, visitors and residents should be prepared for possible traffic delays as hundreds of supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders are expected to march through the downtown enroute to a rally at lunchtime Saturday.
RED BANK: BLOCKING AND TACKLING IN CHINA
Mario Williams demonstrating a block to football newbies in China, above. Below, Williams at the Danish Cafe in Red Bank last November. (Photo below by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
redbankgreen received the following dispatch last week from Mario Williams, a Red Bank Regional graduate who’s now spending a semester at Kean University‘s campus in Wenzhou, in southeast China:
My trip in China has been amazing so far, and I still have 3 months in the semester left. I have so many great stories to share. Today was one of my favorites! My name was apparently mentioned in a conversation recently to someone and, from that, I was invited to Jiù Shān Stadium to help run practice for the newly formed Wenzhou Redbucks Football Team.