Dear redbankgreen reader:
In haste and without consideration about how it would affect those named, I posted a news article on Sunday that contained information I should have known would cause great pain across the community I cover, and in particular, to a family already suffering an unspeakable shock.
I apologize.
Taking on difficult topics as sexual assault, cyberbullying and suicide, Red Bank Regional High School will host a free, public-welcome screening of “Audrie & Daisy,” a documentary that examines America’s teenagers coming of age in the new world of social media bullying.
A 40-year-old man who previously resided at Grandville Towers in Red Bank leapt to his death from the building’s 10th floor Monday morning, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. An investigation found no wrongdoing, a spokesman for the office said Wednesday. [Correction: the original report from the prosecutor said the victim was a resident of the building; that statement was later amended to say he was a former resident. (Archive photo. Click to enlarge)
An 18-year-old woman survived a leap in front of a North Jersey Coast Line train at the Red Bank station on New Year’s Day, authorities tell redbankgreen.
Citing privacy restrictions, New Jersey Transit spokesman John Durso did not release the name and hometown of the victim, whose age was obtained by redbankgreen from other authorities.
This just in from New Jersey Transit:
At approximately 5:00 pm, a New York-bound North Jersey Coast Line train struck and fatally injured an adult, male trespasser west of the Little Silver Station. No injuries were reported on board Train 3266 at the time of the incident.
The victim was struck by at the West Bergen Place crossing at about 9:18 p.m. Saturday, according to New Jersey Transit. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
[Update, 2:45 p.m.: NJ Transit identifies the victim as Donald Cameron Jr., 51, of Red Bank]Authorities have not yet released the identity of a man they was killed when he laid down on the North Jersey Coast Line tracks in Red Bank Saturday night.
The June 20 event, at the Two River Theater, will feature an open mic for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths to tell their stories. (Click to enlarge)
By DANIELLE TEPPER
Joining the ranks of cities and towns across America, Red Bank is set to hold Two River Pride, its first-ever community event to commemorate the struggles and accomplishments of the gay community.
Ed Zipprich, the borough’s first openly gay elected official, tells redbankgreen that Two River Pride is a response to inquiries from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals about the absence of events during June, designated as LGBT Pride Month to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan that sparked the gay rights movement.
For years, weve been asked why we dont do an event, and its because no one ever took the initiative to start one,” he said. “So Kathy Horgan and I put our heads together, he said of his fellow member of the borough council.
Thirty members of the Teen Outreach Program at Red Bank Regional High completed a two-day Out of the Darkness track walk in the school gym Wednesday morning to promote awareness of suicide prevention as part of Children’s Mental Health Week.
The idea for the walk came primarily from two proactive freshmen, Grace Rumph and Adam Canterbury, above, each of whom has lost a friend to suicide within the past two years.
“This is affecting our generation and there’s so much a person can do to help, but maybe they feel afraid to reach out,” said Rumph. “People need to know how important it is.” (Photos by Danielle Tepper. Click to enlarge)
Our Comment of the Week comes from beneath the story “LEHNERT LAID TO REST,” about the funeral of the late Fair Haven Councilman John Lehnert.
The very publication of the article, which included three photographs from the funeral, miffed a couple of readers, while others saw it as as respectful.
But a reader who identified herself as Claudia stayed away from that debate. Instead, she took the opportunity provided by the comments to deliver an overdue thank-you to Lehnert, who served as a Fair Haven police officer for 14 years before retiring in 2006.
Scenes from the funeral of Councilman John Lehnert in Fair Haven Saturday. (Photos by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)
Fair Haven Councilman John Lehnert, who took his own life last Tuesday, was laid to rest Saturday following a funeral mass at the Church of the Nativity.
A former Fair Haven policeman and member of the governing body since 2007, Lehnert was 46 years old. He is survived by his wife, Elaine, and two daughters.
The Asbury Park Press carried an obituary on Thursday.
The house in Jackson Township where John Lehnert killed himself in the front yard early Tuesday. (Click to enlarge)
Law enforcement authorities remained mum Wednesday on the suicide of Fair Haven Councilman John Lehnert early Tuesday in the front yard of an Ocean County home.
Deputy chief of detectives Michael Mohel of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office tells redbankgreen that the matter remains under investigation, though foul play is not suspected.
Mole said his office is awaiting the results of post-mortem toxicology tests and an investigation by Jackson Township police.
But he said he would have no comment on why Lehnert was at the Jackson address, whether the handgun used was registered to Lehnert, or if anyone was home at the time.
Councilman John Lehnert.
Fair Haven Councilman John Lehnert was found dead on a lawn outside a home in Jackson this morning, the Asbury Park Press is reporting.
Mayor Mike Halfacre confirmed that Lehnert, a former borough police officer, had died.
The Press says a handgun was found at the scene, and that police had earlier said that the victim had shot himself in the chest around midnight.