RED BANK: RIVERVIEW REMANDATES MASKS
Red Bank’s Riverview Medical Center has revived its pandemic-era mask mandate for all staff and visitors “due to an increase in COVID-19 prevalence,” its owner announced Wednesday.
RED BANK: SKYWATCH FOR WEEKEND EVENTS
Xol Azul Band, seen here playing last year’s Porchfest at the Fortune Cultural Center, is scheduled to reprise the gig Sunday, one day after a scheduled headline appearance at the Hispanic Heritage Celebration in Riverside Gardens Park. (redbankgreen photo. Click to enlarge.)
It’s eyes-on-the-sky time as four outdoor events dominate Red Bank’s dance card this weekend.
For two, it’s a matter of avoiding a second straight rainout Saturday, while the outlook is clearer, and sunnier, for two others slated for Sunday.
RED BANK: COUNCIL SALARIES UNCHANGED
The council meets twice monthly at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Salaries for Red Bank’s mayor and council, which haven’t risen in at least 15 years, will remain unchanged at least through the remainder of 2023, under an resolution up for a vote Thursday night.
But whomever the governing body selects to fill the new borough manager post will have the latitude to give them specified raises under a related ordinance that’s also up for a vote.
Here’s a quick look at the agenda:
RED BANK: BIKE LANES SET FOR PORCHFEST
Red Bank’s second annual Porchfest townwide music festival is shaping up to be bigger than the first, organizers said last week.
To encourage attendees to bike between the more two dozen “stages,” this year’s event will feature temporary bike lanes.
RED BANK: FILM SHOT HERE TO SCREEN
The trailer for “Miranda’s Victim,” which includes scenes shot in at the Count Basie Center for the Arts, below. (Click to enlarge.)
“Miranda’s Victim,” a Hollywood period film with scenes shot in and around Red Bank in 2022, is set for a special screening with the director and actors Saturday night.
RED BANK: WET FORECAST BUMPS EVENTS
Oktoberfest is slated to take place in Edmund Wilson Plaza, between Triumph Brewing Company and the Two River Theater. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
A forecast of rain has prompted reschedulings for two outdoor Red Bank festivals slated for the upcoming weekend.
The change means that – weather permitting – the town could have both a beer-and-spirits tasting event and a Hispanic Heritage Celebration running simultaneously the following Saturday.
RED BANK: LIBRARY TO GET $15K FROM BASIE
The funding will be used to boost the library’s Hispanic community outreach efforts. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
One Red Bank nonprofit will help another next week when the Red Bank Public Library receives a check for up to $15,000 from the Count Basie Center for the Arts.
The West Front Street library’s support foundation is the latest beneficiary of the Basie’s “Giving Year” program, which donates $1 from every event ticket sold during a specified month to a different charitable organization.
The funding will be used to boost Hispanic community outreach efforts, the two organizations said Thursday.
RED BANK: ONBOARDING AT RIVERSIDE
Access to the boardwalk in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park is temporarily closed this week.
RED BANK: HISPANIC HERITAGE CELEBRATED
Dreamers Club executive committee members Selena Martinez-Santiago, Madelyn Sanchez-Berra and Bethzy Vera Varela looked on as president Edith Lozano Zane addressed the RBR board on September 11. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
UPDATE: Because of rain in the forecast, this Saturday’s Hispanic Heritage Celebration in Riverside Gardens Park has been rescheduled for September 30.
By JOHN T. WARD
Kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month, Red Bank’s mayor and council trained a spotlight on four young Latina students at Red Bank Regional High School last week.
The self-styled “Dream 4” were fresh off an emotional revival of a school club that advocates for Hispanic and Latinx students.
RED BANK: OVEN-MITT FIRE STOPPED
Red Bank’s volunteer fire department responded to a report of an oven fire in a unit at the Manor Drive condo complex Sunday afternoon.
RED BANK: ENNIO MENNA DIES
Evelina and Ennio Menna at Red Bank borough hall in January, 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Ennio Menna, father of former Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna, died at Riverview Medical Center Friday. He was 94 years old.
RED BANK: CRIME & ARREST REPORTS
The crime and arrest reports below were provided by the Red Bank Police Department for August, 2023. This information is unedited; see below for additional information.
CRIMES
Theft: A patrol unit took a report of theft in the area of Shrewsbury Av. On 08/02/2023 the owner of a vehicle reported the theft of a catalytic converter which was valued between $1100.00 and $1800.00. Ptl Jeffrey Lewandowski.
Theft: In the area of Leighton Av, a patrol unit took a report of theft from a motor vehicle. On 08/02/2023 the owner of a vehicle reported the theft of a catalytic converter. The catalytic converter was valued at $600.00. Ptl. Jhonatan Quispe.
Theft: A patrol unit took a report of theft from a vehicle in the area of Hudson Av. On 08/02/2023 the owner of a vehicle reported the theft of a catalytic converter that was valued at $600.00. Ptl. Christopher Fuentes.
RED BANK: TREE REMOVALS AT ISSUE
A view down South Street on August 3, above, and a century-old tree being removed Monday. (Photos by John T. Ward, above, and Kenny Katzgrau. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The abrupt removal of nine trees along South Street in Red Bank this week was “unavoidable,” according to interim borough Manager Darren McConnell.
Residents, though, said they were in the dark about the plan until it was too late to change it.
RED BANK: ‘PEDESTRIAN’ COPS NAB 30
Red Bank cops posing as pedestrians issued summonses to 30 motorists for safety violations earlier this week, Captain Mike Frazee announced Thursday.
RED BANK: SALARY BUMPS & MORE ON AGENDA
The council meets twice monthly at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council would clear the way to give itself its first pay bump in at least 15 years under an ordinance up for introduction Thursday night.
It would also reset the maximum salaries for the top three unelected positions at borough hall, one of which is open.
Here’s a quick look at the agenda:
RED BANK: TREES COMING DOWN
As part of a road repaving project, a crew began removing nine trees along South Street in Red Bank amid complaints from residents Wednesday morning.
redbankgreen plans to follow up with a story. (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
LITTLE SILVER: RBR DREAMERS REGAIN STATUS
Dreamers Club executive committee member Selena Martinez-Santiago delivers a petition in support of the group to RBR board president Patrick Noble. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Reversing an action that sparked a civil rights complaint and community outrage, Red Bank Regional High School’s board of ed restored funding for an immigrants’ advocacy student group Monday night.
At special session in the Little Silver school’s cafeteria that drew a large crowd – including Red Bank’s entire governing body – speakers voiced support for the Dreamers Club while denouncing a lone board member’s vote that they said imperiled years of progress.
RED BANK: REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
Red Bank Charter School third-graders sang “Remember You,” and Father John Lock, right, of Trinity Baptist Church spoke about remembering those lost as Red Bank marked the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000. More →
RED BANK: PAWSING TO ENJOY ‘DOG DAYS’
Check out redbankgreen’s photos from the annual sniffathon known as Dog Days, held Saturday in Red Bank’s Marine Park.
LITTLE SILVER: DREAMERS FILE BIAS CLAIM
Three of the four members of the Dreamers Club executive committee volunteering at Dog Days on Saturday: from left, Madelyn Sanchez-Berra, Selena Martinez-Santiago and Bethzy Vera-Varela. Below, club president Edith Lozano Zane. (Top photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Dreamers Club at Red Bank Regional High School has filed a complaint with the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights alleging it has been “singled out for nine years” of discrimination, the group announced Friday.
The allegations of bias are expected to be in the spotlight when the RBR board of education meets in a special session Monday night. Meantime, Superintendent Lou Moore said he’s “hopeful” the board will reinstate the club by reappointing its advisor.
RED BANK: IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED
Dozens of residents of the Greater Red Bank Green died in the horrific attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
Red Bankers and others will gather at Riverside Gardens Park at 9:30 a.m. Monday to remember those who lost their lives, their families and friends.
RED BANK: THRIVE PLAN GETS BOARD OK
A rendering of the proposed Thrive Red Bank project, as seen from Shrewsbury Avenue. (Rendering by CPA Architecture. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed apartment building for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities won approval from the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night.
Advocates called the approval historic, and said it would allow them to create a model for desperately needed housing for neuro-diverse adults.
RED BANK: PARK WORK STARTS WITH MISHAP
A backhoe en route to start work on a park makeover project tipped off a trailer in Red Bank Wednesday morning.
RED BANK: LUNCH BREAK SEEKS MURALIST
Attention would-be Gulley Jimsons: a large wall beckons at Red Bank’s Lunch Break, awaiting your artistic vision.
RED BANK: STIFLING HEAT IN FORECAST
Visitors to the pier in Red Bank’s Marine Park fished, crabbed and sought out relief from stifling heat Monday afternoon.
The discomfort across the Greater Red Bank Green on Labor Day will continue Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. With “feels like” temperatures expected to reach 102 in parts of Monmouth County, the agency issued a heat advisory in effect from Tuesday morning until 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)