SANDY HOOK: SURF FISHERMAN DIES
A fisherman died after being rescued from the surf off Sandy Hook Wednesday morning, a Gateway National Recreation Area spokeswoman said.
SANDY HOOK: CRASH VICTIMS COPTERED OUT
Two of four people injured in a single-car crash on Sandy Hook were taken to a hospital by helicopter Tuesday night.
RED BANK: WILLIAMS’ STORY NOT IMPROBABLE
NBC News anchor Brian Williams onstage at the Count Basie Theatre in December, 2012. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Was news anchor Brian Williams robbed at gunpoint while selling Christmas trees in Red Bank in the late 1970s, as he has repeatedly claimed – including once before a packed house at the Count Basie Theatre?
That question, and some speculation by local old-timers, threw fuel on an already-raging firestorm about the truthfulness of the NBC News helmsman and former Middletown resident, who was later suspended by the network earlier this month for misrepresenting facts about an incident in Iraq.
Brian Donohue, an nj.com writer and commentator, did some legwork on the Red Bank piece of the story. And while he and his colleagues failed to unearth any specific evidence supporting Williams’ claim, he found plenty to refute the rose-colored reminiscences of locals who said it could not have happened because stuff like that just didn’t happen in Red Bank in the 1970s.
STEWART RIPS MEDIA’S WILLIAMS REAX
On Monday night’s edition of the Daily Show, Red Banker Jon Stewart weighed in on the controversy over NBC News anchor Brian Williams, whose embellished account of an incident early in the Iraq war has drawn widespread media scrutiny. Stewart did not comment directly on a claim by Williams, a former Middletown resident, of having once been robbed at gunpoint in Red Bank, which he made to Stewart himself onstage at a Count Basie Theatre fundraiser in December, 2012. (Click to enlarge)
RED BANK: WILLIAMS’ MUGGING STORY A LIE?
NBC News anchor Brian Williams, left, onstage with comedian Jon Stewart at the Count Basie Theatre in December, 2012. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Was news anchor Brian Williams robbed at gunpoint while selling Christmas trees in Red Bank in the late 1970s?
The big-money network newsman, who’s in hot water for claiming he was in a helicopter that was hit by enemy fire in Iraq a dozen years ago, claims that he was mugged one night at what’s now known as Veterans Park, at the junction of West Front Street and Riverside Avenue.
But some area residents think the story is bunk, according to a report by the New York Post Saturday.
RUMSON MAN HURT IN MIDDLETOWN CRASH
A Rumson man was helicoptered to a trauma center after his car struck a tree on Navesink River Road in Middletown Monday evening.
Frank Caccavo, Jr., 54 remained hospitalized at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune with unspecified injuries after a 45-minute extrication from the wreck by emergency personnel.
MEDEVACED RACER OK AFTER BIKE CRASH
Shots from Sunday’s Tour de Fair Haven.
A rider in Sunday’s Tour de Fair Haven pro-level bike race suffered superficial injuries in a crash that led to his being helicoptered to a hospital, a race official tell redbankgreen.
The rider, who is believed to have lost consciousness in the crash, was treated for a “major cut above his eye” and remained hospitalized at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune Monday morning, said race founder Michele Berger.