Eko, one of two canine members of the Red Bank police force, has a new ballistic vest, courtesy of the Elks. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank mayor and council were in an appreciative mood last Wednesday, spotlighting good works by three charitable organizations.
And the town now has an official lapel pin. Read on for details.
Restaurateur Danny Murphy was among the Red Bank residents checking out the newly unveiled concept design plans for Marine Park Wednesday afternoon at the Senior Center.
What do the plans show? Click ‘Read More’ to find out. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Two three-year terms on the Red Bank Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Linda Schwabenbauer and her running mate, Dana McArthur; and incumbent Democrat Ed Zipprich and his running mate, Michael Ballard.
Here are Ballard’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Two three-year terms on the Red Bank Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Linda Schwabenbauer and her running mate, Dana McArthur; and incumbent Democrat Ed Zipprich and his running mate, Michael Ballard.
Here are McArthur’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Two three-year terms on the Red Bank Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Linda Schwabenbauer and her running mate, Dana McArthur; and incumbent Democrat Ed Zipprich and his running mate, Michael Ballard.
Here are Schwabenbauer’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Two three-year terms on the Red Bank Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Linda Schwabenbauer and her running mate, Dana McArthur; and incumbent Democrat Ed Zipprich and his running mate, Michael Ballard.
Here are Zipprich’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Cindy Burnham, independent. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
One year after Republicans narrowly displaced Democrats as the controlling party in Red Bank government, ending a 25-year reign, voters return to the polls on November 8 with five candidates to choose from for two council seats.
All five candidates have indicated they’ll participate in the West Side Community Group’s annual candidates’ forum at the River Street Commons at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 18. For more information about the event, take it here.
To help voters compare the contenders in terms of personal background and positions on key issues,redbankgreen emailed them identical sets of questions late last week. Here’s what Cindy Burnham had to say in response.
The Navesink Hose firehouse on Mechanic Street got its first-ever water meter Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s townwide water-meter replacement project has begun, with homeowners about to get involved starting in mid-October, redbankgreen has learned.
The heavily debated program mandates that every address served by the municipal water utility get a new, remotely read meter, a process that began in recent days with the metering of borough hall, firehouses and other public structures that never had any. More →
Press release from Friends of the Middletown Township Public Library
On Saturday, February 6, Middletown Township Public Library will be the setting for a First Annual “Trash To Treasure” Sale event, hosted by the Friends of MTPL inside the library’s Community Room. Going on between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., the event is open to the public and will feature over 20 tables of eclectic merchandise, including attic treasures, collectibles, jewelry, antiques, clothing, art, novelty items, baked goods and much more.
Tables are available for $25 to Middletown residents and to cardholders of the library who would like to sell merchandise. Table fees will benefit the non-profit organization Friends of the Middletown Township Public Library. There are a limited number of tables available, and registration must be completed with payment made by January 21. Registration is available by visiting the reference desk of the library., and more information is available by calling the library at (732)671-3700 or by emailing Friends of MTPL president Lori Anne Oliwa at LoriAnne@TheWriteAngles.com.
The annual CROP walk takes participants through downtown Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Peanut butter, rice and beans. Together they make up the big three “Most Wanted” items in the 35th annual Red Bank CROP Hunger Walk initiative; a public-welcome, recreational fundraiser for community food drive efforts that returns to local streets and thoroughfares this Sunday.
Departing from (and returning to) the parking lot of Red Bank Regional High School on Harding Road in Little Silver, it’s an event that aims for some impressive goals: participation by 1,000 walkers, $135,000 in donations — and some 18,000 pounds of that aforementioned peanut butter, rice and beans.
At 7:30 am on any other national holiday, children are nestled under covers, and sleepy from a bit of extra play, TV or reading before bed the evening before. Working and stay-at-home parents in charge of their children on holidays or sick days might also be doing the same.
Monday, January 19 found the roads around Red Bank quiet, but the Red Bank Charter School in full swing. Cars lined up to drop off their back-packed and uniformed students as if it were any other brisk Monday in January. But every single RBCS student, staff, faculty member arrived knowing that this day was to be a day of service learning in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his sacrifice for equality.
Put on your walking shoes and join the hundreds of volunteers expected to take part in the 34th annual Red Bank CROP Hunger Walk, making a “CROP circle” from RBR High School this Sunday, October 19. (File photo)
It’s as much of an autumn tradition on the greater Red Bank Green as the Halloween Parade, the Guinness Oysterfest and the Town Lighting concert — and while it doesn’t make quite as much joyful noise as the aforementioned, the annual Red Bank CROP Hunger Walk has been a part of local life for 34 years.
As to the question of how long this public-welcome, recreational fundraiser for community food drive efforts will keep on walking the walk, the event’s website makes it abundantly clear that it “CAN’T STOP***WON’T STOP***As long as there is hunger in the world there will be CROP Walks.”
Departing from (and returning to) the parking lot of Red Bank Regional High School on Sunday afternoon, October 19, the event invites all members of the community to “join your friends, family and neighbors as we walk to end hunger one step at a time.” Hundreds of walkers, strollers and rollers of all ages are expected to take part in what’s become a multi-generational affair; a five-mile circuit (with other options for participants — read on) that gets underway, rain or shine, beginning at 2 pm.
The stairs to the library’s children’s room, where Saturday programming returns on October 18 with a Halloween Craft Party. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
As expected, the trustees of the Red Bank Public Library voted to resume part-day Saturday operations Thursday night.
The West Front Street facility will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and “all services, from borrowing books and movies to using the public computers and Wi-Fi, reading newspapers and magazines, and attending special events and programs, will be available to children and adults,” according to a press release issued Friday.
Carol Weston in the community garden, where black coverings in different materials can be found among the plants this year. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
The slick black blankets that cover swaths of the garden are actually a new-ish technology that several gardeners have chosen to make the backbreaking work of weed control a bit easier.
Some use polyethylene plastic mulch sheets. Others opt for biodegradable coconut fiber sheeting. Still others are experimenting with their own coverings.
Borough resident Carol Weston is trying a woven plastic fiber covering, hoping it will allow fewer weeds and keep the roots moist.
Five players from the Rumson-Fair Haven Field Hockey squad were named to the Press All-Shore teams, as the RFH girls earned their fourth consecutive “Central A” Division championship. (click to enlarge)
Press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
It’s been said that “the third time is the charm,” but the fourth time was also the charm for the Girls Field Hockey Team at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School.
They recently captured their fourth consecutive championship in the highly competitive “Central A” Division with undefeated conference play.
One of four Q&As with the candidates for two, three-year terms on the Red Bank Borough Council in next weeks election. Kathy Horgan and Sharon Lee, both Democrats, are the incumbents; Cindy Burnham and Sean Di Somma, Republicans, are the challengers. Their answers to redbankgreen‘s questions are unedited.
Name: Kathleen Horgan
Age: 68
Where did you grow up: Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York
How long have you been a resident of Red Bank: 14 years
Marjorie and Howard Fox after voting in Little Silver, above. Barbara Crowton, below, voted at the United Methodist Church in Red Bank. (Photo by Sarah Klepner. Click to enlarge)
By SARAH KLEPNER
As Newark Mayor Cory Booker coasted to victory in Tuesday’s special primary voting for the open United States Senate seat from New Jersey, widespread electoral lethargy surrounding the occasion was also evident on the Green Tuesday.
A visit to four polling sites three in Red Bank and one in Little Silver over the course of two hours after the heavy rain stopped found fewer than 10 voters in all. Most were glad to share thoughts about Governor Chris Christie’s decision to hold an October election to replace late Senator Frank Lautenberg apart from the November general election, at a cost of $24 million.
Several, all from the 40 and under set, said they were unaware that Tuesday’s primary was specially scheduled.
At the Woman’s Club of Little Silver, Howard Fox and his daughter Marjorie Fox both had strong objections to the special election.
“It was gratuitous to do it this way, ” said Howard.
Scenes from the 2010 National Night Out in Red Bank. (Photos by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
It’s one night of the year where the badge and blue shirt come to represent something a little less fear-inducing, when the local fuzz trades in authority to bond with those it protects over burgers and dogs.
National Night Out, the community outreach program that spans police departments coast-to-coast, gets going in select towns on The Green Tuesday night, a fitting lead into the lazy days of summer’s end when many families are preparing for another school year.
“It’s good to get everyone out. It shows the kids they don’t have to be afraid to interact with the police,” said Stephen Schneider, a patrolman in Fair Haven. “We’re not just out there writing tickets and telling them to put their helmets on. We’re there for everybody.”
Besides, who can resist a sanctioned chance to dunk a cop with a fastball?
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna Saturday. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
He didn’t share any secret recipes or crack too many jokes, and didn’t even loosen his bright pink tie. But Mayor Pasquale Menna got about as informal as he was going to Saturday.
For Menna, the opening meetup in what’s billed as a series of weekend chats was a chance to let his hair down in the metaphorical sense, at least an opportunity he took to pat the borough’s employees on the back, recommend a shred job to the state constitution and ponder his daily reading habits.
When Red Bank council members take the dais for their regular meeting tomorrow night, they’ll likely start out discussing a potential new law banning vehicle-idling and expanding private contracts for water and sewer connections.
Snooze, right?
But what’s notable about these topics is not necessarily their substance, but their source. They wouldn’t have made it onto the council’s dance card had it not been for taxpayers’ input, be it by way of stopping an elected official on the street or sitting through a council meeting waiting for the regular order of business to wrap up and get to the public comment portion an often intimidating forum typically taken advantage of by meeting regulars.
So sticking with a credo of an open government with an open door, Mayor Pasquale Menna said he wants more input and more ideas from the borough’s stakeholders. On Saturday, he plans to launch a series of informal meetings aimed at generating just that.
The holiday decorating at 77 Shrewsbury Avenue isn’t done yet. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
There’s no shortage of Christmas spirit at Natividad Oliveras’s Red Bank home. Just a shortage of real estate.
If you’ve seen her Shrewsbury Avenue residence, you understand.
The front yard is a tightly packed tableau of holiday cheer, with candy canes hanging from her fence and an array of biblical characters, snowmen, Santa Clauses, reindeer and toy soldiers staked in just about every available patch of grass she owns.
OCCUPATION: Liaison to the Board of Trustees amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research 120 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005
LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN TOWN: 11 years
General Questions:
1. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE TOP THREE ISSUES IN TOWN? In walking door-to-door throughout the Borough over the past few months, residents have spoken to me most often about the following issues:
a. Property taxes
b. Downtown revitalization
c. Pedestrian/bicycle safety
Developer Kevin Hughes, right, watches Fair Haven’s council meeting as neighbors voiced complaints over his proposal to add age-restricted housing in town. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
It’s facing kind of a conundrum, says Mayor Mike Halfacre, of the Fair Haven council’s role in weighing an informal proposal for age-restricted housing in the borough.
On the one hand, the council has been asked to create an overlay district to allow higher densities in a neighborhood just off River Road, a move that might in turn fill a longtime need in town for more housing for the borough’s senior population.
But doing so carries the potential of leaving a bad taste in the mouths of neighbors.
Even though the proposal from builder Kevin Hughes is in what Halfacre called “step A, minus one,” some neighbors are already hoping to derail it. At a Tuesday morning meeting specifically relocated to the borough’s youth and senior center in order to accommodate the older population, area residents obliged with a solid half-hour of bristling to the council.
Democrat Hazim Yassin is seeking a council seat. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
The Red Bank mayor and council were in an appreciative mood last Wednesday, spotlighting good works by three charitable organizations.
