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PROSECUTORS DENOUNCE DC ‘TERRORISM’

Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni speaking at forum on police and systemic racism at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Red Bank in June. (Photo via Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

redbankgreen hot topicNew Jersey’s prosecutors on Thursday issued a denunciation of what they called mob “terrorism” in Washington DC a day earlier.

They called the attack on the Capitol building a “sickening display of everything America is not,” and contrasted the law enforcement response with the treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters in June.

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RED BANK: LOCALS CELEBRATE BIDEN VICTORY

For more than five hours Saturday, a small, rotating group gathered in Riverside Gardens Park for a low-key celebration of the election of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

There were no speeches: just virtual hugs, some tears, as well as cheers – punctuated by honking horns and occasional middle fingers from passersby on West Front Street.

Below are some some reflections on the election outcome among participants.

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RED BANK: PANDEMIC-ERA ELECTION ARRIVES

A prospective voter peers inside Red Bank borough hall shortly before the 6 a.m. start of election voting Tuesday.

Amid concern about the spread of COVID-19, borough hall is the only polling location for all Red Bank voters this year. In-person voters will be given paper provisional ballots to complete; disabled voters only will use accessible voting devices.

Polls remain open until 8 p.m., the hour at which mail-in ballot drop-off boxes, including the one seen at right above, will be locked. Find more information here. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

RED BANK: RALLY SLAMS POSTAL CHANGES

About 30 protesters assembled at the post office on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank at noon Friday to voice alarm over recent changes at the postal service.

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VIRUS UPDATE: CRISIS SHOWS MORE TAPERING

Judy Persichilli by Kevin Sanders 042020Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli warned New Jersey residents that household cleaning products should not be “ingested or injected.” (April 20 pool photo by Kevin Sanders. Click to enlarge.)

[See UPDATE below]

By JOHN T. WARD

redbankgreen hot topic

While the deaths of 252 more New Jerseyans were added to the COVID-19 toll Friday, state officials pointed to what they saw as 10 days of encouraging data in the fight to tame the crisis.

“There’s no question things are getting better,” said Governor Phil Murphy, but “we’re not out of the woods yet.”

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RED BANK: ANTI-KAVANAUGH RALLY SLATED

brett kavanaugh, scotus, red bank nj, greater red bank women's initiativeOpponents of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the United States Supreme Court plan to rally in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park as part of a “walk-out” movement Thursday afternoon, redbankgreen has learned.

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RED BANK: MURPHY TOUTS LOWER COSTS

Governor Phil Murphy appeared at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank Friday to tout an expected drop in healthcare insurance costs for New Jersey customers of Obamacare. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

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RED BANK: UNITY RALLY DRAWS A MURPHY

Tammy Murphy reacts as her husband, Governor-elect Phil Murphy, calls her while she’s delivering a speech at Saturday’s Unity Rally in Red Bank. The event drew a full house to Pilgrim Baptist Church, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Ignoring biting cold, dozens of Red Bank-area residents participated in a “unity” march and rally Saturday in honor of two civil rights champions: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and journalist T. Thomas Fortune.

Anchored at Pilgrim Baptist Church, the event featured a cameo appearance by the spouse of Governor-elect Phil Murphy as part of a whirlwind, pre-inaugural tour of New Jersey.

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RED BANK: RALLY FOR IMMIGRANTS SLATED

A “unity and peace” demonstration drew several hundred to Riverside Gardens Park in August. A similar event is slated for Friday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

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RED BANK: MARCHERS UNITE AGAINST HATRED

Hundreds gathered at borough hall for a rally before a march and vigil, including Mx Rowan, below, who wore a yarmulke with the Hebrew alphabet. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Answering the racist and anti-Semitic shouts heard last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, about 400 Red Bank-area residents gathered Wednesday night to affirm their belief in love over hate.

“We’re all standing here together united in our humanity,” said Hazim Yassin, of the American Muslim Action Network, at a vigil in  Ralph ‘Johnny Jazz’ Park on Shrewsbury Avenue that followed a one-mile march from borough hall. More →

RED BANK: RALLY TARGETS RACISM & TRUMP

Several hundred protesters assembled at Riverside Gardens Park Saturday evening. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Hours after violent clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, about 150 local residents and community leaders gathered in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park for a “unity and peace” demonstration Saturday night.

But unlike a rally held in the West Front Street park one day after the start of the Trump Administration, this one did not avoid mentioning Trump’s name, as several speakers laid responsibility for the day’s outburst of hatred and deadly violence in Virginia on the president.

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RED BANK: WOMEN UNITE AGAINST (UNNAMED)

rb rally 012117 4Several hundred participants flowed into Riverside Gardens Park for the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative Rally Saturday.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

rb rally 012117 17One day after the start of a new administration in Washington, D.C., hundreds of protesters gathered in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park to push back against its promised agenda.

But if the policies of newly inaugurated President Donald Trump were foremost on their minds, speaker after speaker at the event avoided mentioning him by name.

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RED BANK: WOMEN PLAN ‘NONPARTISAN’ RALLY

riverside-gardens-park-0917162A gathering to reaffirm Red Bank’s “inclusiveness and tolerance” is planned at Riverside Gardens Park the day after the Trump inauguration. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

[REPOSTING OF JANUARY 9 ARTICLE, with additional details about who’s speaking.]

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03A group of Red Bank-area women have obtained an OK to hold an open-air rally for human rights and other concerns one day after the Trump inauguration.

The newly formed group, called the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative, won approval Monday from the borough government’s special events committee to hold a rally in Riverside Gardens Park on Saturday, January 21, according to Ellen Herman, one of the organizers.

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RED BANK: WOMEN PLAN ‘NONPARTISAN’ RALLY

riverside-gardens-park-0917162A gathering to reaffirm Red Bank’s “inclusiveness and tolerance” is planned at Riverside Gardens Park the day after the Trump inauguration. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03A group of Red Bank-area women have obtained an OK to hold an open-air rally for human rights and other concerns one day after the Trump inauguration.

The newly formed group, called the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative, won approval Monday from the borough government’s special events committee to hold a rally in Riverside Gardens Park on Saturday, January 21, according to Ellen Herman, one of the organizers.

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RUMSON WOMAN SAYS TRUMP ASSAULTED HER

HOT-TOPIC_03A Rumson woman has accused Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in 1998, according to news reports Thursday.

Karena Virginia, a 45-year-old life coach and yoga guru, claims that she was waiting for a car at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Queens, New York, when Trump, whom she had not met, made comments about her body as he walked by before grabbing her by an arm touching her breast, she said at a press conference in New York, according to NBC News.

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RED BANK: FIRST DEBATE DOWN

pilgrim-debate-night-092616-1Election_2016_DebatesAbout two dozen Red Bank residents gathered at Pilgrim Baptist Church Monday night to watch the first 2016 presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton and participate in a discussion afterward.

Did you watch? Did anything you heard change, or reinforce, your thinking about the candidates? Feel free to share your takeaway in a comment. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

RED BANK: STEIN TO LEAD RALLY HERE

jill-stein-091516Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is scheduled to participate in a march and rally for environmental justice in Red Bank Saturday.

“Our objective is to bring people together who can lead a pivotal grassroots movement towards better environmental policy, preparation for climate change, and relief for those adversely affected by pollution, climate effects and other environmentally destructive scenarios,” Julie Saporito-Acuña, chair of the Green Party of New Jersey, said in a press release. 

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