Louis ‘Del’ DalPra on the sidelines in 2010. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Regional’s man of many caps, Louis ‘Del’ Dal Pra, is retiring.
This time, unlike his last attempt to leave a decade ago, it’s for real, he said.
With the sound of sirens blaring in the distance, residents of Jackson Street joined their neighbors across Fair Haven in giving a noisy, pots-and-pans cheer to healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle Thursday night.
Two Red Bank restaurants delivered cartloads of meals to the nurses and other staffers at Riverview Medical Center Thursday in recognition of National Nurse Appreciation Week.
A lone man practiced soccer at Red Bank’s Eastside Park last Saturday, the day borough parks and others across the state reopened after a three-week shutdown. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Amid a slowdown in COVID-19 fatalities statewide, Monmouth County lost 11 more residents to the pandemic, for a total of 428, the New Jersey Health Department reported Thursday.
At the same time, the death toll in the county’s longterm care facilities shot up by 39 victims, according to state data.
Kitch Organic, on Leighton Avenue, is offering donation-powered “Kitch Kares” deliveries of organic groceries, below. (Click photos to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Kitch Organic in Red Bank plans to roll out a new offering to help fill a void in the COVID-19 crisis: food packages that emphasize fresh vegetables and fruits rather than non-persishables.
The idea: to address rising food insecurity with healthy, organic produce and dairy products, said borough Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, who hatched the idea with Kitch owner Joe Durso.
A resurfacing of Branch Avenue in Little Silver went full steam ahead Wednesday, despite the fact that it isolates several neighborhoods for hours at a time. (Click to enlarge.)
The state says nine deaths have now been associated with the Hackensack Meridian at Red Bank longterm care facility on Chapin Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Monmouth County’s death toll in the COVID-19 pandemic is now above 400 victims, the New Jersey Health Department reported Wednesday.
With 19 added in the latest update to the department’s database, 417 county residents have now died in the crisis, two-thirds of them living or working in longterm care facilities, according to state data.
Red Bank officials are looking into reports of brown tap water, but believe they know what’s causing it, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said Wednesday.
After a shutdown over concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, tennis play is returning to one tennis court on Rumson Road in Little Silver, and another in town. But there are rules…
The death toll from the virus continues to rise both in Monmouth County and statewide. (Data source: COVID19.nj.gov. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Sixteen more Monmouth County resident deaths were added to the COVID-19 pandemic toll Tuesday, the New Jersey Health Department reported Tuesday.
The county has now lost 398 residents, as the state’s fatality total rose by 334, to 8,244, according to the department’s database.
Store owner Harvey Shooman speaking with customers Tuesday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Testing the waters in the COVID-19 era, Fair Haven Hardware reopened for business Tuesday morning – with some new rules for employees and customers to observe.
“We don’t know how this is going to work out,” co-owner Harvey Schooman told redbankgreen. “So we’ll see how it goes.”
Kayakers navigated the Navesink River railroad bridge near West Front Street in Red Bank Sunday evening. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Governor Phil Murphy said New Jersey schools statewide would not to resume in-person operations for the rest of the current school year Monday.
Also, state resident “passed the test” on social-distancing practices at newly reopened parks up and down the state over the weekend, Murphy said at his daily briefing on the COVID-19 crisis.
The popular Red Bank Farmer’s Market will be back sooner than expected, redbankgreen has learned.
Unfortunately, shoppers won’t be allowed out of their cars to squeeze, sniff and taste until the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer considered a threat.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
Visitors to Marine Park appeared to be maintaining social distances Saturday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank parks reopened Saturday without any “significant issues,” police Chief Darren McConnell said Sunday night.
But redbankgreen‘s strolls through the facilities over the weekend prompted questions about whether behaviors said to slow the spread of COVID-19 could be realistically judged, let alone enforced.
With temperatures rising to the mid-70s, masked visitors to newly reopened Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank strolled the public library’s Story Walk Sunday.
The story for Monday, weatherwise: partly sunny and not as warm, according to the National Weather Service. A good day, perhaps, to read the latest Story Walk installation: ‘The Sun Shines Everywhere,’ by Mary Ann Hoberman.
Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Well-spaced customers, all wearing facial coverings, wait for takeout orders at Juanito’s restaurant on Monmouth Street in Red Bank Saturday evening. (Photo by Allan Bass. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Ten more Monmouth deaths attributed to COVID-19 were among 129 statewide added to New Jersey’s toll the pandemic, Governor Phil Murphy’s administration announced Sunday.
Other key indicators suggested continued slowing of the pandemic’s impact.
Governor Phil Murphy ended his Saturday briefing by donning a State Police face covering. (YouTube screengrab. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With 1,804 New Jersey residents added to the COVID-19 pandemic toll, Governor Phil Murphy wrapped up what he called “as tough a week as it relates to fatalities as we have had” in the crisis.
At the same time, “all 0f the important metrics in our hospitals continue to show positive trends,” he said at his daily briefing Saturday.
A pedestrian and biking trail at Sandy Hook. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook will be partially reopened May 9, the National Park Service announced late Friday.
While group gatherings and swimming will be prohibited, visitors can use the park to fish, kayak, run, hike and bike – if they arrive before a 50-percent capacity limit is reached, that is.
Barricades around Eastside Park, seen here on Thursday, had been removed by Friday morning. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
While police plan increased patrols, Red Bank will rely on public cooperation and reporting of violations as it reopens its parks Saturday, Mayor Pasquale Menna said Friday.
Jim Fitzmaurice’s newest seasonal mural at Fair Haven Hardware added a burst of spring color to a gray morning Friday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[See UPDATE below]
By JOHN T. WARD
Facing a favorable weather forecast and 9 million New Jerseyans with cabin fever, Governor Phil Murphy returned repeatedly to a single topic at his daily briefing on the COVID-19 crisis Friday: the reopening of parks on Saturday.
The White Street parking lot was desolate April 8. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[See CORRECTION below]
By JOHN T. WARD
Along with their Netflix and Hulu viewing options during the COVID-19 lockdown, civic-minded Red Bankers will have some Zoom options in coming days.
Among them: a presentation on the redesign of the White Street parking lot.
OK, so it’s not quite ‘Tiger King,’ but hey.
Peak spring colors filled the branches and lined the side of Fair Haven Road in Fair Haven Thursday.
May, 2020 begins Friday with wet, cool conditions before giving way to sunshine and temperatures approaching 70 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Check out the extended forecast below. (Click to enlarge.)
A runner had the grandstand at Red Bank Regional in Little Silver all to herself for some socially distanced stair-climbing Tuesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Four-hundred-sixty more New Jersey residents have died in the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Phil Murphy reported Thursday.
The increase, to 7,228, was by far the single largest jump in fatalities reported since the crisis began seven weeks ago. Read More
Red Bank police have rolled out a residential safety service to give some residents an added degree of security in their homes, the department announced Thursday.
Saliva testing for COVID-19 is expected to be available in Red Bank next week, the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey said Thursday.
The test, developed at Rutgers, is expected to help rapidly expand detection of the coronavirus-based illness.